Spy Games
by Demidream
Summary: Liz, T&B Cam/Morgan, Jax, Jack, MiStarr In which adventure brings Blair and Todd together, Carly tries to win back Jax, Liz must save the day and Cam is the picture of dysfunction. Amnesia/SORASing and all kinds of soap goodies inside!
1. Chapter 1

Spy Games

T&B, Liz, Cam/Morgan, CarJax, MiStarr

Author's notes: This will have everyone in Port Charles in the fic at some point, but the Mannings, Webbers, and Spencers (yes, Carly IS a Spencer) are the main characters. Not every character is going to be in every chapter (much like a soap is written).

Todd and Blair, Carly and Jax are end game. Cam is gay. Morgan IS his love interest. Liz doesn't have a set love interest, because I'm writing this for a friend who doesn't want LL2, but I do want LL2. So hopefully feedback will end our argument on who she should be with. The first chapter is really introducing Cam and Morgan as teens, their relationships to those around them and what T&B have been doing for the last year. It might be a little boring, sorry! The story picks up. It's action/adventure/comedy/romance

Casting:

Cameron: Shane Coffey

Morgan: Billy Unger

Sarah Webber: Jennifer Skye

Reading key (in large portions):

**Bold: **is writing

_Italics: _flashbacks

(Parentheses): Thoughts.

**Chapter One**

In which Blair and Jax are business partners, Todd and Carly mope about it, Cam cons all of Port Charles and Morgan is as charming as he is smart.

August 2013

**We all want what we can never have. I mean, my parents want to save the world and that isn't going to happen. The Johnsons want me to be so grateful that they are giving me a place to stay, that I forget to be me and that's just as absurd as what my parents want. My sister wants…oh yeah, theory blown. Sarah always gets what she wants. Unless fate intervenes. And by fate? I totally mean me and a first class ticket to Port Charles, New York. **

"What are you doing, Webber?"

Cameron Webber looked up from one of the many journals that he found in his mother's studio to see his boss's temperamental, idiotic son Jack Manning; who, if not for nepotism and an exorbitant amount of wealth, would probably end up as nothing. (Well, maybe he could be a model or something. He's pretty, at least.) He wore clothes well too. A steel gray business jacket with Armani slacks and a white button down made him look sleek and pressed. All that was unruly about Jack was his hair, which was to be expected since it was the style.

Jack claimed he got his style from that dead Victor guy, but Cam knew that it had to be Blair Cramer. That woman had flare.

"I get a thirty minute break every day, Manning." Cam responded tightly, flipping to the next page of his mother's journal, despite the fact that he was no longer reading it (it's always best to look busy when confronted by annoying people, they are more likely to go away). Ignoring Jack was something he easily did; when he wasn't getting paid by Todd or Blair to spy on their son, anyway. He was paid by each, separately and neither knew the other was shelling out cash for the information . Jack didn't have a clue either; but he was paying Cam to pretend to be his friend so that, as Todd's personal assistant, he could casually drop that Jack was doing fine, Jack didn't need to go to boarding school, and Jack was a really good influence on him. The formerly married couple even paid for information on each other; leaving Cam to wonder if they really as over each other as they claimed to be.

But Cam had all the goods on both. For instance, Cam knew that Blair and Tomás had broken up months ago when she started doing business with the exiled Jasper Jacks and came to Port Charles to do so. She let Todd believe that she was still with him because that kept Todd at bay, and she didn't want to fall prey to his lies again. He didn't tell Todd that part, because he could easily claim to not have found that much out, and he could use that information at a later date. He did, however, tell Todd that Blair didn't see her lover much and that was probably leading to trouble in paradise.

Todd, on the other hand, had been working overtime to break up a couple that were already in splitsville by getting "No Mas" investigated by the government. Which Cam kept from Blair because he knew it could get Todd in a lot of trouble, and despite all the evidence he left to the contrary, Cam liked his boss. Instead, he told Blair that Todd had been spending a lot of time with Carly, which was truly driving the ex-Mrs. Manning mad with jealousy. Which was kind of fun to watch, really.

"Doesn't your dad get pissed that you're never home?" Jack wanted to know (I just want to know why you won't go away, and why you're so obsessed with my life). "Or does he assume you're with your boyfriend and just get too embarrassed to ask?"

"He's not my dad." Cam said sincerely about Lucky Spencer, whom he had no real attachment to anymore, outside of the resentment he held for his mother's constant regard of him. (He's the only man on the planet mom wouldn't tear apart for leaving his family.) "and he doesn't care that I'm gay."

"Did your mom freak?"

"No." Cam looked up from the journal darkly, "why do you care? You gay?"

"No!" Jack said, completely dismayed (I shouldn't be so mean, just because I know how to press your buttons, doesn't mean I should). "I just never met your mom, so I wondered. What was she like?"

(Talking to you about my mom is the last thing I want to do) Cam brushed some of his dark curls from his forehead and looked up at Jack quizzically. The kid had everything; money, power, friends (what makes you so fucked up that you heckled some kid enough to practically kill himself?). Everyone knew what happened with Shane Morasco. The moment that Jack showed up at Molly's private school, word was out. Cam went to PCH, because his mother didn't have more money than God; he was fine with it. Although, kids were cruel considering he was openly gay.

Not that it mattered. He didn't need friends.

He just needed money.

Which was why he was working as an assistant to Todd Manning, having been hired after Sam Morgan got her baby back and quit. It was also why he was babysitting Sam Manning, scamming the entire Manning clan and doing odd jobs for some of the older women in the neighborhood. He needed the money, what he was attempting to do wasn't cheap.

"Why?"

"I don't know." Jack shrugged, "did she get you into karate?"

Cam rolled his eyes, "mixed martial arts," he clarified, "mostly Muy Thai. And yes. "

"Was she a good mother?"

"Yes."

"Did she really sleep with your uncle?"

Cam slowly stood up, making himself level with Jack and allowing an expression of malice to cross his usually calm and still features. Like his mother, Cam had a temper, and he was very physical person- with his anger, as well as his affection. Everyone knew that, most of all Jack, whose little homophobic friend got a face full of fist after a few slurs that Cam didn't appreciate. "Nikolas is not my uncle, Jack."

"Fine, whatever. Did she really sleep with her fiancée's brother?"

"Yes." Cam answered with a shrug, before sitting down again.

Jack's eyebrows flew up, "that doesn't bother you?"

"Why don't we talk about you, Manning?" Cam shot back with a smirk, "like, how does it feel to know your father _killed _his brother?"

Jack scowled, "scarface was not my dad. He let my mom think I was dead right after I was born. He's nothing to me."

Cam's smirk didn't leave, "then I guess we're done talking about parents, hm?"

Jack gave an exaggerated sigh, "fine, whatever. Are you going to the party tonight?"

"No. Now go away."

XXX

Todd stared at the party invitation, then tossed it into the garbage, leaning back into his chair, intertwining his fingers and placing them behind his head. Blair and Jax.

"What kind of a name is Jax anyway?" Todd asked Carly Jacks, who was seated across the room, wearing much the same irritated expression as Todd was. The blonde hotel owner, who had since bought out her husband's ownership of the Metrocourt, had her arms crossed around her chest and glared at the question. "I mean, what is he? A video game character?"

She sat down across from him and raised one eyebrow, "I think it's a sexy name."

"Ah. That must be why you're dressed for his party." Todd motioned toward her white button down shirt and black skirt. "Is the party business attire only?"

"I wasn't invited."

"Well gosh Carly, why is that? I mean, the party is commemorating the partnership between Blair and your husband, not to mention it is sort of a coming home party, right? Since all of the charges against him magically vanished." Spreading his hands out, Todd gave a fake smile, "oh yeah, because your husband can't stand you."

"We have some issues to work through." Carly admitted, "and we could probably work through them a lot faster if your ex wasn't in the way."

"My ex is with Tomás." Todd replied darkly, "she's hardly your problem. _Your _problem is that you're too chickenshit to go talk to him; because you think he moved on to that model- whatshername."

If looks could kill, he'd be laying down dead (If looks could kill I'd have died a long time ago). "Jax is so done with Brenda, she's still in Rome."

"So you're checking up on her."

"I may, or may not, have used Morgan's MyFace account to check her status and where she was going." Carly shrugged, "at least I don't have my little assistant babysitting his children and spying on him. How _is_ that going, by the way?"

Todd rolled his eyes, "Remind me not to tell you anything. Ever. Again." Todd stood up and walked across the office, unable to be still any longer. He liked to keep moving, it was just in his nature. "Cam's doing alright. I mean, he's got no future with the CIA, but he gets me what I need. I'm sure he can update you on Jax now, since he'll be working so _closely_ with Blair."

"Oh can it," Carly stood up and poured herself a glass of brandy from the cart that he kept in his office, "like you're not as jealous as I am."

"I'm not jealous of Jasper Jacks- he looks like a Ken doll." Todd lied easily, like he always did, and made sure to laugh after his statement, to show just how _not_ jealous he really was. But truthfully, he was jealous of Jasper Jacks. At this point, he was jealous of the damn chauffer that drove Blair everywhere. It was driving him crazy. She always drove him crazy (do I like to be driven crazy? Is that it?) "Besides, their business is going to tank anyway. She named it Meladora, after Melador, which she didn't have the best luck with, by the way."

"Ah."

"And really? Clothing design? Why? She makes jewelry, not clothes"

"Probably Jax's idea." Carly put in dryly, "he loved this clothing designer once-upon-a-time. He's sentimental. I bet he's probably even using some of her stuff."

Todd rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

"So is Cam going to the party to be your little spy?"

Todd shook his head, "the kid isn't much for partying, you know, he's pretty busy moping and being friendless. Even I have friends- well, Um, a friend, I guess." He made a face, "I think he's the only person who hates more people than I do. I wonder if he has a list."

"A list? Why, did you have a list?"

"Several." He smirked, "why? Don't you?"

She just shook her head with both eyebrows raised and a look of annoyance coloring her features. Blair had made a similar expression once when he talked about his list of people to get. It had been longer then though. Maybe Blair just had thicker skin than Carly did. "Anyway, Cam agreed to stay here and help with the paper or whatever. He's always here anyway."

"But you two aren't friends." Carly replied slowly and disbelievingly.

"Are you implying that I am sleeping with my employee?"

"_Todd_."

"No. I told you. He doesn't have friends. He doesn't talk." Todd motioned to the door, "all he does is spy and work, work and spy. Oh, and do that kick-fighting thing. He's sad really."

Carly smiled, putting a hand on her hip, "Oh yeah, he's still into that? He _used_ to be friends with my son Morgan, but then Morgan went off to military school." She shrugged, "I guess they had a falling out after Cam came out as gay. I don't know. I think it might have weirded Morgan out a little." At his quizzical expression, she continued, "Morgan and Cameron were best friends since….forever. They were literally attached at the hip- drove me crazy because, quite frankly, his mother was a muffin-faced, passive-aggressive little bitch." She stopped and looked sheepish, "probably shouldn't say that, she was good to Morgan and she saved Joss' life, but really, it's how I felt at the time." She made another face, and raised a brow. Todd was actually interested in the story of his assistant, well, mildly interested. He was one of the few people not throwing their life story at him. "Anyway, Morgan _worshipped _Cameron. Seriously, every day it was Cam did this, or Cam did that, or did you know Cam can do this?" She mimicked the voice of her son and then shook her head, "so when Cam came out, it was just like whoa…." She put both hands up, "and so Morgan was thrown for a loop, I mean here was this kid he worshipped and now he was _gay_? So…Morgan asked to go to military school and that was the last we heard about how great Cameron was." She took a long drink from her class and then set it on the desk. "Cam took it pretty badly, I guess, because when his mom died, he didn't speak to Morgan at all, even when Morgan tried to reach out to him."

"Do you think Cameron was like…in love with your son?"

"I think so." Carly nodded, "I think Cam told Morgan he was in love with him and that was what freaked him out. It's not like he's homophobic. My brother Lucas is gay and Morgan thinks he's great." She shrugged, "it's the only thing Jax and I could think of that would tear those two apart. Jax asked Liz about it once, because they were friends," she rolled her eyes, displaying her displeasure over that little fact. "But according to Liz, Cam had a crush on Lucas and it was no secret, she put a big ol' nix on it because of the age difference. Not that I blame her. Jax thought maybe Cam used Lucas as a cover because he was embarrassed about the whole thing."

"And Morgan's never mentioned it?"

"Not to me. He's close with Jax though, and they have this weird bond thing. Maybe he told him." She bit down on her lower lip, took in a slight breath and stated, "maybe you can find out from Cam?"

"You want me to grill my assistant about your son?" Todd barked out a laugh, "you're kidding right- have you met Cam? That kid barely says hello. He makes _me _look _kind of_ social." Todd shook his head, "no dice. Besides, spying on my spy seems…tawdry."

"Like you care." Carly pointed out. "Besides, if you talk to Cam, then I'll crash the party your ex is throwing for my husband and give you all the information you want. I may even write an article about it for your paper." She pointed at him as she made the statement, lips lifted with smugness and eyes glinting with mischief and excitement. "You know you want me to."

He did want her to. He wanted the party crashed and burned, actually. If he had his way, he'd set that damn Haunted Star boat on fire (or, I would if Starr and Blair weren't on it. Or I would set it on fire, then save them and be the hero…that would probably work the best). "You won't do it. Besides, Starr will inadvertently tell me everything that happens, and if she doesn't, your son will while he's trying to win me over, you know, so I hate him a little less." Todd gave her a smile

Truthfully, Starr was being even more tight-lipped than her mother. They had worked things out, but she was pretty protective of Blair. He missed the days when his little Shorty was trying to get them back together and he could use her as an excuse to reunite with Blair. Now he had to take credit for all of it (which sucks, really. Especially since I've been rejected _so_ many times. And all because of a few little lies and a dead brother). "Come on, Todd. Let's make it a deal. Who knows? Maybe Cam is secretly in love with you and will therefore tell you everything. It would explain why he's _always_ here."

"Watch this." Todd told her with a smirk. He walked over to the door, opened it and leaned out while still holding the knob, "hey Webber, are you secretly in love with me?"

Jack, from where he sat on Cameron's desk, looked up in ultimate horror. Cameron, however, didn't even move his expression from the screen he was staring at, nor did he stop typing as he spoke in a toneless voice. "Yes, But ours is a forbidden love, and I have finally learned to accept that."

He glanced at Carly and wagged his eyebrows, "it's because I'm so pretty."

She shook her head in ridicule, then flounced past him to Jack, taking his arm in hers, "come on, Jack. I'm going to be your plus one for this party."

"You're kidding, right?" Jack was asking as she started dragging him out of the office. He looked back at Todd as if asking for help, but Todd smiled and shrugged helplessly at him (Blair is totally going to flip).

He then looked to Cameron, who was still focused on his task. "Do you ever emote, kid?"

"Sure." Cameron answered just as emotionlessly as he had answered Todd's first questions. "sometimes I get angry."

Todd stared at him for a moment, then started back into his office, "order our regulars, Cam. It's going to be a long night."

XXX

"Everything looks perfect." Blair clapped her hands together and grinned at her daughter as she looked around the Haunted Star. The boat now belonged to Lulu Spencer solely, and had been that way since Johnny Zacharra went missing a year earlier. That was of great comfort to Blair, and she was sure even more comfort to Todd, who hated Johnny with the passion of a thousand suns. "Don't you think it looks perfect?"

Starr beamed and nodded, "absolutely, mom."

"It looks great."

Morgan Jacks, Blair's business partner's adoptive son walked into the room with little Sam on his back. He was babysitting because the usual sitter, Cameron Webber, wasn't available. According to Carly, Morgan had spent most of his time in military school, only leaving the year before because of their lackluster computer program. He returned to Port Charles to attend the highest rated private school in the country, which had connections to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He could mostly be seen hanging out with Damian Spinelli, Molly Lansing, or Blair's beloved Starr. Sadly, he and Jack didn't get along.

He had spent the summer growing his hair back out, so he could bleach parts of it and mix in some green with the black, and Blair appreciated the panache that he had. His clothes were always the pinnacle of what was going on in counter-culture style, and his model good looks didn't hurt his case with that either.

She got along with Jax's son, who had been the one to originally broach the idea of the two becoming business partners. Well, it had been a combined effort of both Starr and Morgan, actually. Blair was grateful for the idea because Jax was a great businessman and the work was fun and exciting. It seemed to breath new life into her, she felt braver than she had in a long time, and freer too. Together they made a damn good team.

Morgan allowed the ten year old Sam to hop off his back. "Why isn't Cam babysitting me tonight?" he asked, pushing his glasses up onto the rim of his nose and looking up at Morgan with a troubled expression. "Doesn't he like me anymore?"

Blair reached down and picked him up, leaving out a heave as she did. He was growing so quickly. She wished that he could stay little forever sometimes, because growing up was so hard, especially in the family he was in. She nuzzled his cheek lovingly and told him in a sweet voice, "Cameron can't tonight, honey. You see, tomorrow is going to be a very hard day for him."

"Why?"

"Well," she softened her voice even more, and tried not to think too hard on what she was saying. Her heart broke for him at the idea of it, and so in order for her not to cry herself, she had to remain detached. "You know how you lost your daddy?"

He nodded gravely.

"Well, Cameron lost his mother like that too, okay?" Blair told him, "He took it very hard, Sam."

"Maybe," Sam said quietly, "his mommy and my daddy are friends in heaven?"

She almost lost it there, and when she looked at Starr, she could see tears in her daughter's eyes. She was probably thinking about Cole and Hope too. (We've all lost so much, haven't we? I just wish the world would stop spinning for a moment and give us all a chance to breathe). "You know, I bet they are." Blair said through the lump in her throat. She set him down on the ground, "you're so smart, Sam." With a tender hand, she brushed a few strands of hair out of his face. "So you understand that tomorrow is the anniversary of the day he lost her. So you can see why he can't be here?"

Sam nodded, "yeah."

"Sam, Michael and Lulu are in the kitchen making some sandwiches to hold us over until the party. Why don't you go in and tell them what kind you want, okay?" Starr suggested.

"Okay." He ran off, disappearing behind the bar and Blair waited for the sound of the door shutting behind him.

Starr walked over and took her mother's hand in hers. "You're so good at that."

She wanted to tell her daughter that she was the one who taught her to be good at it, that talking to Starr as a child was what prepared her for Jack and Sam. But it wasn't the time, or the place and she still felt the wounds of Hope being gone were too fresh. It was tough talking about little girls with Starr. She would sometimes get that sad, distant expression that let Blair know just what she was thinking about. "Thanks."

"Okay, so I just stopped by to tell you that Alexis is picking Jax up from the airport." Morgan told them matter-of-factly, "they should be at this party right on time."

"Great!" Blair exclaimed, "I am _so _excited to meet your dad in person, Morgan. He's so charming- I can see where you get it from."

"It ends that whole nature Vs. nurture debate, huh?" He chuckled, "although looks come directly from the parents, which explains why you're so gorgeous Starr. You know," Morgan's grin showcased his dimples in full glory, "your mother is a knock out. Any chance that I could convince you to go for a younger man, Blair?"

Blair simply chuckled and waved a hand for him to stop it. "Speaking of beauty, I should be at home primping for tonight." She gave her daughter a hug and a kiss on the cheek, "I'll see you later?"

"With bells on." Starr promised. "Is dad coming?"

Blair exchanged a glance with Morgan and shook her head, "he didn't RSVP, darling. I'm so sorry."

Starr sighed, "he's still so hurt about you being engaged to Tomás. I wish I could say he would come around but…" she trailed off, "you and I both know better than that, don't we?"

"Oh baby-girl, I'm so sorry. Your dad and I, we just always make a mess of things; and you're the one who pays every time." Regret left a catch or two in her voice, and she shook her head. "You wanted us together so badly when you were little."

"Well, what kid doesn't want their parents together?" Starr asked with a little laugh, "but it's alright mom, I've outgrown it, you know?" she kissed her mother on the cheek and then looked to Morgan, "Michael and I will finish getting Sam ready if you want to go get Molly and TJ?"

"Sure, thanks." He held an arm out to Blair, "since your beloved is not attending this with you, would you allow me the honor of escorting you?"

She laughed good naturedly and accepted his arm, "but of course, kind sir."

They conversed idly, with mild flirtation, as they exited the boat (he reminds me of some kind of prince from the past, whose flirtations were to fulfill courtly manners, no more and no less. Nonetheless, why has he not found himself a girlfriend? He's a good lookin' kid, and a real charmer to boot). As they entered his black 1968 mustang, Morgan leaned over the car door he opened for her with a smile full of mischief. "You know your daughter is totally lying, right? She'd be completely beside herself with joy if you and your ex hooked up."

"_Morgan_," Blair began in a warning voice as she ducked inside the car and he shut the door.

He rounded the car and opened the door, leaning in, "no seriously." He adjusted the seat and then shut his door, "I heard her talking with Michael last night, and she _told_ him that if she could have anything for her dad, it would be you, and that she knew deep down Todd Manning was it for you." Her heart should have sank at that, but it didn't, which was confusing in and of itself. "Look, all you have to do is tell him that this relationship with Tomás is a lie, and I can stop doctoring stupid emails for you. Easy as pie. Then just go to Todd, tell him you're in love with him and then wham, bam, thank you ma'am. You're married in like…two days."

'Oh?" she asked defiantly, "you don't think Todd is going to be a little resentful of me lying about being engaged to his captor for an entire year?"

"You're kidding, right?" Morgan scoffed, "he'd build you the fucking Taj Mahal if that's what it took to get you back, and he'd be right to do it. You're beautiful, smart, fierce and by God, I'm half in love with you myself."

She crossed her arms over her chest and averted her gaze to the window, eyes taking in the beautiful boat that Lulu Spencer owned. Her heart glowed at the compliments, but she couldn't let these sweet words cloud her judgment. "He'd also trample all over my feelings and my life to have me, if that's what it took. You're young and sweet, so you don't get this but…it's hard to rebuild after someone has hurt you as badly as Todd Manning has hurt me."

"He made mistakes," she glared at him, "okay, so he's made giant mistakes that wrecked everything around him. But he's suffered, Blair. He's miserable without you, anyone can see that." She wanted to do exactly what Morgan was telling her to do. Every part of her ached for it. But then where would she be? At the brink. At the edge (I'd just be waiting for it to all fall apart. I can't live like that). She looked at Morgan, whose eyes were dark and hopeful (How can I _not_ live like that? Love is always a risk). Her conflicting thoughts sent her stomach churning and her heart pounding, she was still so confused. "Look, he's screwed up, but lots of people do. They do things that they wish they could take back more than anything- but they don't mean to do it in the first place. Sometimes people get scared, they- they panic and they don't know what to do or how to react, so they do the exact wrong thing…"

"Are you speaking from experience then?"

He looked startled, "you _love_ him. I can see it every time you say his name, Blair. And he loves you. Otherwise he wouldn't be scanning your emails."

"That's not love, that's stalking."

"You said yourself that you and Todd don't do love like normal people." He reminded her. "Blair, go. Go to him right now."

"You're young," she reiterated, "it's not as easy as all that, Morgan. You don't know what it's like to love someone like I love Todd. It's insanity. It's non-stop. Morgan, it's _terrifying._"

He was quiet, and when she looked at him, she noticed a troubled expression. "Yeah. Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Morgan?" She asked, suddenly worried that she was giving him bad advice (but if I am giving him bad advice, that means I am also giving myself bad advice…and I'm not. I finally have my life together, I can't let anything destroy it. Not even love).

XXX

"This is the photo you want to use." Cam said, tossing the picture of Lulu Spencer at him. The picture was of her looking over her shoulder at the camera, eyes twinkling and looking sweet but seductive. "Pull the public in with her beauty, then you use this picture." He tossed a second picture at Todd, this one was of a very unstable looking Allison Perkins, the loon of Llanview, who was responsible for attacking Lulu. It was the headline for the paper, and Todd promised Cameron that he would let the kid work on it with him. Besides, he was good at this kind of thing. The last paper he helped with, sold better than many of the other papers that year. "This accentuates the fact that she was the attacker, see how the shadows play under her eyes? Doesn't that make her look creepy? All the while, the cover of this paper shows a beautiful sweet young girl that the audience wants to identify with, sympathize for."

Todd had to admit that his idea seemed sound and that the pictures he chose fit the article in a way that made sense to Todd. He worked well with the kid, and he liked him alright. The kid didn't constantly tell him he was a bad person, or try and get him to change. Actually, outside of money, Cam didn't seem to want anything from him at all. It made their relationship very simple. "What about the writing itself, would you change anything?"

"I'm not good with words."

"I've noticed." Todd chuckled, took the pictures from his desk and examined them, then looked back up at Cam. "We still have 10 more pages to go, and of course the online component."

"I know."

(Could it hurt the kid to try and talk? It would make my life easier, and this little favorite Carly a lot less awkward). "Don't you have a life?"

"No." Simple. Direct. Cold.

"No friends?"

"No."

"_Why_?"

"Since when did you care if I had a life?" Cam sneered, "My first day you told me to give up all of my friends and family because this paper was going to be my _entire_ existence. A month into the job called me in at two in the morning to bail you out of jail for assaulting Johnny Zacharra." Cameron snorted, then sat on the desk with his back towards Todd, "in fact, the only friend you want me to have is Jack and that's just another job."

"I was being facetious."

"You weren't." Cam said in disbelief. He hopped off the desk and turned to him, "you wanted me to quit doing martial arts, because you thought it was going to take up time that should have been spent on _your_ paper."

Todd sighed, "well I was being serious, but I don't expect people to actually listen to me. I give that same speech to every single person here, and they have lives."

"But you don't care about their lives." Cameron pointed out, crossing his arms over his chest, "and I know you don't care about mine. So the only thing that I can think of, is that someone asked you to care about my life. I know it wasn't Jack, it couldn't have been Blair, and like you would listen to Lucky, who would be the only one to ask you anything about me. So, I'm at a loss. Who wants information?"

Todd tried to laugh it off, "you don't know what you're talking about."

But Cameron was having none of that, and his eyes were fixed on Todd as though he could discern the answer just by looking at him.

Todd decided to try another tactic, he folded his hands and propped his elbows up on the arms of his office chair and looked up expectantly at Cameron. "I pretty much spend all of my time with you, I mean think about it, when are we not at work? So I'm a little curious, sue me."

The speculative look at Cameron's face didn't give Todd much hope for an answer, but the boy sat down in front of him, gazed at him levelly and said in a very even tone; "I don't need a life, I need money. I work because working gets me that money. So you see, it's very simple."

"What do you need money for?" He asked, raising his eyebrows and squinting his eyes while he lifted his shoulders, "your aunt is a doctor who pays for everything and your mom's life insurance set you up for life." For a moment, Todd thought he saw an actual expression cross the boy's face. But it must've only been his imagination, because Cam looked passive once more and said nothing. "Carly said that you were friends with Morgan and Molly. You know," he chuckled, "it's okay to like M&Ms." (I crack myself up sometimes).

And there was, he actually saw Cameron Webber smile. "My mom used to call them that."

Todd had met Elizabeth Webber exactly one time before her death a year before, and it had been quite a throw away moment. She had driven her son to the interview and waited for him in the lobby.

Cam had been different then, but eager to work and had recommendations that kind of made him sound like a God, so he had hired him on the spot. Todd thenwatched as Cam left the office, walked into the lobby and his mother, just a tiny brunette, gave her son a hug that reminded him of the way Blair always hugged Starr. "Anyway, this whole sharing is caring thing is getting old. Can we stop?"

Todd shrugged, "okay, fine. We won't talk about you then. You'll tell me what you found out about Blair yesterday."

"Things are the same. Long-distance romance, business venture with Jax, party tonight..." Cam rolled the words off and gave a little eye roll, "status quo."

"And Jack?"

"Now Jack you should worry about, because if you didn't notice? He left with Carly. That kid doesn't stand a chance."

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

Cam let out a bitter sound that Todd thought could have been a laugh. "You're kidding, right?"

"Oh, screw it." Todd threw up his hands in defeat, and made a sound of exaggerated annoyance. "Are you in love with Morgan Jacks? Is that why he ran off to boarding school hell, because he just couldn't deal?"

"So that's what this is about? Carly? She couldn't get answers from me or her son, so she sent you here to do it." Cameron shook his head, stood up but as he moved, he knocked his stack of files and books over and one of them fell open onto the floor.

Instinctively Todd moved to pick them up, "is this even in English?" He picked up the leather bound book that had fallen open, and turned it sideways then right again. It looked to be written in gibberish, there were lots of Zs, Ys and Rs, he noticed right away and his mind started to try and work to solve the puzzle before him. "It's some kind of code." He started flipping through the pages, then jumped as Cameron tried to grab it off of him. Each page had the same gibberish, but then there were pictures and drawings put into it as well.

"Give it back Todd, you realize that I can simply take it off you, right? I can kill you in like…a thousand ways without even needing a weapon or anything."

That sounded like panic in Cameron's voice (so he does emote after all).

Todd quickly made it to the other side of the room, then stopped dead as he is a picture that he recognized. It was a drawing, but a good one, it was rendered well enough that he recognized the face. There were cartoon aspects to it, like devil horns and a pointed beard, but that countenance was unmistakable. "What is this?"

"Nothing. Give it back."

"Do you know who this is?" Todd questioned, holding the drawing up for Cameron to see, "did you draw this?"

"Yes, I know who it is. But I don't see how you would. And no I didn't draw it. Give it back, Manning before I fucking take it back." With frightening speed, Cam snatched the book bag, and held it closer to him.

Todd stared at him, "Cameron, what is a drawing of the mother _I _shot and killed doing in your mother's journal?"

XXX

"How did the session go?"

Victor's question was said in a casual, conversational tone, but there was steel beneath it. It wasn't his steel though, it didn't belong to Victor, it belonged to the man who was controlling his thoughts. A man who was an expert in the field, who had decades of practice with the human mind.

Cesar Faison.

"Father said it went poorly." He responded with an exhale that displayed his unhappiness. "He will try hypnosis next. We don't want a repeat performance of the Rebecca and Emily thing," he shuddered at the memory of that, "what a nightmare."

Victor gave him a smirk, "so Rebecca means nothing to you?"

"She's not Rebecca." He answered simply, "Rebecca never existed. So why would she matter? And what's left of Emily's mind…well, not even that Zander guy would want her now. Her mind is mush."

It was heartless sounding, but that came with the territory, and he was still relatively bitter about how Faison, his own father, had tricked him into going to Port Charles using the supposed 'con artist.'

"We'll be putting her in with Emily now." Victor informed him, "your father insists that she'll be a calming influence."

"Father knows best." The bitterness in his voice was evident. "all I know is that we need to get that information from Elizabeth Webber now that Irene is dead…and we need to do it."

"By any means necessary." Victor agreed.

The whole situation left a bad taste in his mouth and a rock in his stomach; but it had to be done. He knew that better than anyone, had sacrificed more than anyone, and knew what would happen if they failed…better than anyone. Frowning, Ethan Lovett nodded at Victor Lord Jr. "By any means necessary." He repeated.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for the replies!**

**Keep letting me know what you think!**

And to be clear, Lucky isn't Liz's only option. My friend really wants it to be E&E. But if there's a large call for Liz to be with someone else, I'll take it into consideration g

Reading Guide:

In large portions

(Parentheses): Thoughts

_Italics: _Flashbacks

**Bold: **Writing

**Chapter Two**

In which Cam believes his mother is alive, Todd sets out to find information on his own mother, Jax is a spy and Lucky fails to regain control

(I'm in hell. This must be what hell is like) Jack Manning was on the bed of Carly Jacks, which had a silky red comforter to go with tan walls and a lush brown carpet. There was a vanity that looked a lot like the Victorian style his mom had and boasted about, and on the walls were little shelves with red candles on them (hell is really feminine…and it smells good too).

Jack rubbed his temple idly with his right pointer finger and middle finger, while another dress was thrown from Carly Jacks' closet and landed on the pile in front of him.

If he heard her tell him "I have to look _perfect_." One more time after deciding against a dress, he was going to kill her, then himself (anyone with a brain would understand).

How many clothes could one woman _have_? But then, he already knew that. His mother and sister were hoarders of the stuff, they could probably clothe all of Africa if they wanted. Hell, he wanted to see the tax break they got for the clothing donations to the Salvation Army. Carrying those loads had been almost as bad helping Carly get ready for a damn party. "Are you ready for this one?" She asked from inside the closet.

(No) "sure," he said with an exasperated sigh.

"I think this one says, 'you had me, you lost me, but if you play your cards right maybe I'll let you buy me a drink.' What do you think?"(Dresses apparently talk a lot, I need to keep that in mind for when I finally get a girlfriend who isn't trying to set me up with the cops) Carly came out wearing a sleeveless red dress that was shorter in the front than the back, reaching just above the knee, then stretching to her calves. She twirled, "so?"

"I think it says whoever made the dress couldn't cut a straight line."

She made a disgusted noise, "I had such high hopes for this, Morgan is always so good at helping me find clothes. You're just as snazzy a dresser as he is, where did my plan go wrong?"

"My mother buys all of my clothes."

She gave him a face full of scowl and he shrugged at her. "Of course she does."

"You don't buy Morgan's?"

"No." She shook her head, "he never needs me to." She put a hand on her hip and stared at him, "I need another set of eyes that will help with this fashion disaster. Ugh." She threw her hands up in the air and disappeared into the closet. "What I need is more female friends."

"Maybe you can call my mom."

She poked her head out of the closet, "I'm not invited to this party by your mother, remember?"

"Well tell her you're not screwing my dad and maybe she'll get you an invite and some fashion tips." He muttered, mostly to himself out of bitterness, before falling back on the bed and saying, very loudly, "this is so freaking ridiculous."

"Whatever. I'm wearing the red."

XXX

Sam McCall had gone over the details of Elizabeth Webber's death one thousand times.

Maybe she just wasn't that good of the PI, or maybe Elizabeth was just really dead. She was banking on the fact that it was the latter.

One year ago, Elizabeth Webber was found in a dark alley, wearing a red dress with a cord around her neck. She was brought in, but before they could examine the body it mysteriously disappeared. Two days later they found Tom Baker hanging from a noose in his tiny, dank apartment. The wrinkled copy of the suicide note that she had her hands was chilling.

**She haunts me. She has haunted me since that night in the park. I had to have her one more time, but instead she had me. Now all I see is her face, all I smell is her skin, and I can no longer live with myself knowing that she is no longer in this world. Goodbye.**

They never found Elizabeth's body, but that was the end of the case, for the police anyway.

It would have been the end of things for her too, she was going to give up the PI business so that she could be a proper mother to her son Jason Junior, or as she called him, JJ (but life rarely works out of the way that I want, I never get the happy ending that I deserve). She folded the note back up and put it in the pocket of her jeans before descending the steps of the docks.

_She walked into the apartment, bag of groceries in one arm as she closed the door with her free hand. She flipped the light on, then promptly dropped her groceries on the floor at the sight of the teenage boy sitting Indian-style on her desk._

_Cameron Webber wore a smirk that he inherited from his mother, a smirk that she hated above all others and that was a constant reminder of how terrible things could get with Jason Morgan. Sometimes she thought that Elizabeth would always be between them, and that feeling only intensified when she over heard Jason tell Lucky that when Cameron spoke, it was like Elizabeth was still alive. She tried not to hold that against the boy, but sometimes it was difficult. _

"_I came to say hello." This smirk was there, telling her that he had more to say than just a greeting. "And to ask why you would rat me out to Lucky? It's not really his business that I hired Spinelli to look for my mother, now is it?" _

_She had done that, but it had been out of worry for him. She had hoped that Lucky could talk some sense and Cameron, and maybe get him some help. "Your father is worried about you, and he should be. You're not letting go, you're holding onto this dream that your mother is still alive, but she isn't, Cam. No amount of wishing is going to bring her back, and you holding onto her just isn't healthy."_

_Cameron raised his eyebrows, but otherwise showed no emotion. He was calm, collected, his smirk faded and his eyes were a steely black. "So now you're suddenly really interested in the well-being of my mother's children? Where was this concern, Sam, when my brother was kidnapped?"_

_She felt the color drain from her face, and her mouth dropped slightly in surprise._

"_Oh goody, you didn't realize I knew." Clasping his hands together for sarcastic effect, he gave her a dark look. "Did you realize I knew that you purposely set out to seduce Lucky while he was married to my mother?" Cameron went on nonchalantly, he hopped off the desk quietly and folded his arms over his chest. "So you'll excuse me if I don't buy your concern, and am more than a little miffed that you ratted me out."_

_She wasn't quite sure what to say, it had been a long time since anyone who brought up the fact that she had watched Jake get kidnapped. It had never been something that she was proud of, or that she put a lot of thought into because every time she did, she was eaten by guilt. Elizabeth had forgiven her, but it was clear from the look on her son's face that he never would. "Cam, even if you don't think I have your best interest at heart, you have to know that Spinelli does. He's a good guy and thatr is why he told your family that you hired him."_

"_I don't care." Cam smiled, but it didn't look anything like Elizabeth's that time, and it didn't reach his eyes which still glittered with hatred. "You will locate my mother, who is not dead, and you will do it quickly, Mrs. Jenkins, or I am going to call Mr. Jenkins," he reached into his pocket and pulled out a picture of her second to last mark, the husband whose bank accounts she had cleared those many years ago, "and tell him and the authorities working with him, that his beloved wife has been found. Then you'll go to jail for theft, fraud, identity theft, and whatever else they can throw your way."_

"_So…blackmail." She told him, narrowing her eyes, "your mother would be so proud."_

"_I don't want her pride, Sammykins. I want her presence." _

She was lost in her memory, so lost that she almost tripped over Lucky, who was sitting at the edge of the docks looking out into the water with an expression so lost that it caused an ache in her own chest. He wore a pair of faded black jeans, and a white t-shirt that looked a little rumpled and worse for the wear. That was how he usually looked anymore though. She knew the reason for it, so she didn't ask. Instead she sat down next to him. The last time she had sat alone with a man on the docks, it had been John McBain. That had been a long time ago, John was long since back in Llanview. "Anything I can do to help?"

He shook his head, but didn't speak.

"I know she and I didn't always get along," Sam told him softly and sincerely, "but I'm really sorry you lost her."

"I lost her a long time ago." He told her after a long pause, "I willingly lost her. I tried to lose her. Don't feel sorry for me."

Sam wasn't quite sure what to say to that, after all he and Elizabeth hadn't been together when she died. She had been dating that shrink, Dr. Keenan. He was still around, and from what Sam knew, still paid attention to the whereabouts of Cameron and was trying to help him. But there was no help for Cam, he was already too far gone. "She was the mother of your children."

"Child." Lucky said bitterly, "just ask Cameron."

"Cameron is angry, but Lucky, maybe he'll grow out of it." They were empty words. She didn't hold much hope for Cameron, because she didn't think he held out much hope for himself. "He's young, that's all. Didn't your parents ever do anything to upset you when you were younger?"

He lifted his head a little, as if recalling something. Then he turned his head sideways to look at her and his blue eyes were filled with excruciating pain, like it hurt to even breathe. "Sure. And yeah, we made up. But Cameron isn't big on forgiveness, at least not since Elizabeth died." He folded his hands on his lap and looked up at the sky, "she was good at forgiveness, you know that."

"Yeah."

"I think he hates me even more because she forgave me for leaving. I think he hates me so much because she never _hated_ me, no matter what I did to her. But I hated her, no, that's not true. I tried to hate her. I made her think I hated her. I called her a whore." He ran a hand through short, loose hair. "And he hates me because I wasn't here to protect her, maybe if I was she would still be alive."

"No," Sam had heard enough of that, it was misplaced guilt. "You have no way of knowing that. You could have been here and Tom still could've gotten her, he still could've killed her. That isn't your fault, and if Cam is blaming you for that, it's not fair."

"He'll never forgive me." Lucky went on as if she hadn't spoken at all, "he'll hate me in her honor forever, and he's right to. Because I let everyone believe that I left because I couldn't handle her pursuing me, that I didn't want to be with her…" She saw a tear roll down his cheek, then another and another. He made no tearful sounds, but there was a tightness to his voice that pulled on her heart. "But that wasn't true. I left because I was in love with her." The revelation was followed by a pregnant pause. She was surprised by his confession, after all, Lucky had even married another woman after his split from Elizabeth. "I left because I never stopped being in love with her, and I couldn't take the guilt involved in that, Sam. I couldn't handle that I married Siobhan to try and get over Elizabeth, that it never worked, and that my stupid obsession with drugs got my wife killed." He glanced over at her, looked up, then down and sucked in a breath. "So I ran. I ran just like _my _dad did."

He stopped talking, then looked down at the ground and pulled something up. Sam's heart jumped into her throat as he slowly unfolded the paper. She froze, and though she should have grabbed the paper from him, she didn't think to. Instead she watched his face as he read it, then wet her lips and searched her mind for an explanation to give when he looked up at her. "Why….do you have this?"

She opened her mouth to speak, then snapped it shut. What the hell was she supposed to say?

"Sam?" He asked, getting to his feet, "how did you even get this? Why would you want it?"

She closed her eyes, let out a pained sigh then climbed to her own feet so that she could look him in the eye. "I'm investigating Elizabeth's death."

XXX

Jasper Jacks had his own jet, unlimited resources and a charming smile that made women melt. He was completely and totally crush-worthy (if you didn't already once have a gut-wrenching crush on him that ended in unmitigated heartbreak, anyway. My dad always said that once a man broke your heart, it was time to give up, because men didn't learn new tricks, so they were bound to break your heart again).

Agent V Ardanowski was at the back of the plane with her partner, who was happy to be coming back to Port Charles and wrapping up the problem-at-hand, so she and her beloved husband and daughter could return home safely.

Dr. Robin Scorpio had been kidnapped by the WSB, her death faked, and her lab blown up before her drug findings could be grabbed by opposing forces, of which there were many. Her brilliant mind had stumbled upon a drug that made the mind malleable and more susceptible to suggestion, she had been working on it as a way to counter some of the drugs that her mother's kidnapper "Faison," had used on her. Wind of it had gotten to the wrong people, so advances had to be made for her protection, and for the sake of her family.

If any other organization got their grubby little hands on her findings, it would be end game. This would bring them one step closer to making the perfect conscienceless killing soldier. Not to mention, with the help of micro-chip technology, a step closer into kidnapping government agents and turning them rogue through brainwashing, thus creating a world where no person could be trusted. There were already leaps and bounds in this kind of technology, with Robin's drug…

(We'd all be screwed)

(It was terrible what the WSB did to Robin, but isn't it more terrible if they had used her drug for evil?)

"What are you thinking, V?" Jax asked in that Australian drawl that used to make her heart flutter, but now just kind of made her roll her eyes. "You look upset."

They pulled Jax in at her request. He was a face they could put in Port Charles with few questions asked. He had money, power and an uncanny ability to talk himself out of terrible situations. With a little training, he made a great agent. "I'm thinking that it's too dangerous to bring Robin back to Port Charles."

"My family is safe," Robin interrupted, looking up from her book. "Patrick and Emma are in a safe house. That's all that matters."

"It just feels like a set-up." V sighed, returning her gaze to the jet's window. "Or maybe I just don't want to pretend to be _his_ fiancée."

"Who wouldn't want to be my fiancée?" He asked with a charming laugh.

V just rolled her eyes. This little brainchild had been the idea of Robert Scorpio, who V decided had a very annoying sense of humor.

She herself had been an agent for years, and had played the role of someone's fiancée more times than she could count- but this one felt like someone was poking fun at the old V Ardanowski. She trained Robin and she trained Jax.

"Be honest, V," Robin put in, "you just don't want the hassle of having Carly being shoved down your throat."

V laughed, tucking red strands of hair behind her ear and glancing at her partner and friend. "I've taken on international spies from every known enemy organization we've had, I've defused bombs that could have taken out millions of lives, and I infiltrated one of the most terrifying terrorist organizations of our time. I think I can handle Carly."

Jax snorted, "right. We'll see."

XXX

Starr arrived at her mother's home already dressed, knowing that her mother wasn't going to be.

But she was pleasantly surprised.

Morgan was on the computer, wearing a pair of faded, straight leg blue jeans with chucks, a classic 50's white tee and black jacket over it. His hair went every which way, green tuffs starkly contrasting his dark brown locks, with a piece falling down his forehead. The outfit was topped off with a pair of black, thick rimmed glasses and a silver lip ring on the bottom of his mouth. He glanced up and smiled, "You look fierce, Starr- but wait until you see your mother!"

Morgan kind of worshipped at the altar of Blair Cramer, so Starr didn't really take offense that in his eyes, she fell short of her own mother.

Starr theorized that he did because Blair as a safer version of his mother, since Michael and Carly had gotten close now that Michael was being groomed to take over the hotel business. Moreover, Morgan resented Carly and Michael's defense of Sonny and Jason, who, in his opinion, were criminals who got they wanted through murder, theft, and illegal activities that lead to more harm than good. Blair, who had once done her part to put an end to organized crime when she ran the Llanview Sun, probably seemed like a beacon of light to the kid.

Starr didn't blame him. Her mom was kind of made of awesome.

"You don't look bad yourself, Morgan."

He raised one brow, then smiled, "yes, well, I thought I'd go for casual chic. Like the jacket?" He stood up and turned around, "it's going to be out in your mom's first line of clothing."

"I recognized it." Starr responded, "it was part of the designs that Cam gave her."

His smile faded, he looked down at the sleeve of his jacket, then looked back up. "You mean…from his mother's…collection?"

"Yeah." Starr nodded, "Blair thought it would be good for him to see his mother's work get the respect it was due, and of course Jax jumped on board. I guess they were fr-"

"Ta-Da!" Blair stepped out into the room, a vision of sex appeal in a sexy black halter dress with what Starr thought were gemstones on the bottom hem. She guessed onyx? It was flowing around her thigh, giving her a free, hip look that made Starr decide it was a dress made for dancing. Her hair was pulled up into an elegant French twist, that looked fresh but still classic. "My own creation- you know me, I love gemstones."

"Mom, you're a sex-pot." Starr shook her head, "are you sure you're not trying to seduce Jax?"

"I am trying to seduce the world." She said with a laugh and then another twirl, "I want the world to look at these clothes on me and think about how gorgeous they will look in them. Speaking of, that little number is gorgeous on you." She walked over, took her daughter by the hand and gave her a little twirl. "I love the pink on you, Starr. You're absolutely stunning."

It was a pink baby doll dress with a light gray/silverfish faded floral pattern going up the bottom right of it. This was also part of the new collection, and Starr loved it. She had already promised her mother that she would be wearing only clothing from her design company for her concert tour that was coming up in the Autumn. Her recording was almost finished, and she was really excited about that.

"So we all look amazing." Morgan smiled, "so shall we go?"

"Michael is meeting us," Starr responded. "He took Sam for ice cream first though, it was the only way we could get the little guy into his suit."

XXX

"I don't know why you look so excited that your mother knew my mother." Todd said. Cameron sat on Todd's desk Indian-style, his mother's journal in his lap, and a glint in his eye that told Todd that this was _good _news. "My mother was a lunatic. I shot and killed her for a good reason."

"I know." Cameron responded, "my mom did all kinds of research on you before I started working here. She was pretty protective over me, especially after she lost Jake."

"And she still let you work here?"

"There was begging involved."

Todd tried to picture Cameron begging anyone for anything, but was having a hard time coming up with a visual for that. "But you didn't answer my question."

"You didn't really ask one," Cameron shrugged, "so…this mother of yours was the head of a spy organization, right?"

Todd nodded, "yeah, that held me captive for eight years to take my memories and give them to my brother, so that he could marry _my _wife, raise _my _children and run _my _estate." That rage within him which built quietly while he wasn't consciously thinking about it, exploded in a second and he slammed his glass down so hard against the desk that it shattered, little pieces hitting Cameron and himself.

Cam brushed some of the glass off, then gave him a wry expression. "You would think killing someone might solve the anger issues."

Todd rolled his eyes and then paced towards the door, when he came back, he just shook his head. "You would _think_."

Cameron chuckled, and it wasn't the most pleasant of sounds. "so you want to know why I would be happy that your psychotic mother was involved with mine, right?" He let his legs drop down dangling from the desk. "Fine, sure. Why not? I mean, who are you going to tell? Lucky? Sarah? And what will they do, ground me?" He snickered, "I'll just run."

"So?"

"So, seven months ago my Aunt made me get therapy because I had a PI or two looking into my mother's supposed death. She thought I was having problems _letting go_." He rolled his eyes, then paced in front of the desk, "I must be crazy to think that my mom, whose body vanished, was alive, right? I mean, it's not like there is a drug that slows the heart beat down to the point that it's beat is imperceptible or anything." He stopped, looked at Todd and threw his hands up, "except that there is. My mom took it once to help Lucky regain control of his mind from Helena." He waved a hand, "that is a really long story. I know it all," he grabbed the journal from the desk and held it up, "it's all in here. Everything is…at least, everything from the point of her deciding to come to Port Charles." He placed it back onto the desk, then turned back to Todd, "anyway, Lucky came back from the dead, so I figured, maybe he'd understand, right? No. No. Because Elizabeth didn't have the enemies that the Spencers did. There would be no motive in faking her death, like there was for his."

"And you think her having a connection to Irene is a motive." Todd realized.

Cameron nodded, "my mother, she wasn't a saint. People…they tried to put her on pedestals all the time, and she tried to let them. She tried to stay on them. But she always failed, because there was always some lie that she was telling, or secret that she was keeping." Cam wet his lips and tilted his head to the side, "most of them are out. Jake was Jason's, she left my bio-dad to die, she had an affair with Nikolas- everyone found them out. Except for…one."

Todd was interested in that, he liked knowing people's secrets. The more secrets you knew, the more powerful that you were. "And?"

"And nothing." Cam replied bitterly, "she eludes to it throughout all of the journals. How she can never really be honest with Lucky, how no one knows the real her." Cameron stopped, tracing his fingers over the leather of the cover. "She also talks about that woman, your mother, and the nightmares that she has about her. They are pretty disturbing."

"I bet." Todd muttered, his own memories of what she had done to him always present in his mind. He could still feel the mouth guard between his teeth, the restraints binding his wrists, and the sanitary smell of the hospital. He rarely found peace from these memories, but when he did it was when his lips were on Blair's, or when he held his daughter in his arms, or when he was able to satisfy the rage inside him through destruction and anger. "What do you think her secret was?"

Cameron gave a slight shake of his head, and his dark eyes were lost and clouded with sadness. "I don't know. She's had so many and I could never guess them. But I know the first place that we should look is with my great uncle Jake, the problem is that he's in a coma. He fell into it shortly after my great Grams died."

"Weird."

"Too weird."

The two men stared at each other for a moment, and it was Cam who broke the silence which was surprising because he usually didn't talk at all. "She's alive, Mr. Manning. I've known it all along, and I've also known that wherever she is, someone has her. She wouldn't leave me, she wouldn't do that. I knew it when she was around, because no matter how hard I pushed her after Lucky left, the names I called her, the trouble I caused, she never abandoned me." A tear rolled down his cheek, and he used one arm to hold himself, while he wiped a hand over his mouth. "And I came around, I was a good son to her. I was. So she wouldn't. She'd never just let me go."

Todd was more than a little uncomfortable at the emotion the usually apathetic boy was showing, and he rounded the desk to sit in his seat and look up at him with a furrowed brow. "Um- yeah. You wanna be alone now?"

Cameron sniffled and shook his head, "no. I want to figure this out. What did your mother want by having your brother take over your life?"

"Some micro-chip." Todd answered stiffly, "money, power….I don't know what else."

"Well, I guess we could start by finding answers in Boulder. That's where Uncle Jake is, and he was your mom's main squeeze- or one of them, I guess. He owns this huge pharmaceutical company there."

A knock on the door stopped Cameron from continuing. Todd rolled his eyes, realizing that his assistant was in there with him and that was why they were being bothered. When he opened the door, Lucky walked through with an angry purpose. He stopped right in front of Cameron, skin pale but blotchy and blue eyes angry. "You're blackmailing Sam McCall?" He demanded.

"Um," Cam, bit his lower lip, "are you high?"

"Stop it, Cameron. Just stop. I don't need your low blows right now, you don't need them either. What is going on with you?"

Todd looked straight into Cam's eyes. The tears for his mother were gone, and the emotions from his face vanished without a trace. He was a block right then and Todd knew that Lucky was getting nothing. "Um…this is my office-"

"And this is my son." Lucky interrupted, "who has been off the rails for quite some time."

"I'm not your son." Cameron replied easily, "nor am I off the rails. Sam McCall is a con artist bitch who watched my brother get kidnapped. I'm doing her a favor by not going to the police, a favor I don't owe her. So she, in turn, owes me. It's not blackmail. It's _trade_." Cameron shrugged and offered a bitter smile, "but I guess I don't owe her anything now, do I?"

"You will _not _be turning her in, Cameron." Lucky said crossly, "do you really think that Elizabeth would be okay with you blackmailing people?"

"Don't." His voice was equal parts ice and threat. If Todd had been in Lucky's shoes, he'd have been worried, luckily, Cameron was on his payroll, so all was well in his world (too bad for the crack-head gumshoe though). "You don't _get _to invoke her name with me. You don't get to tell me what she would or wouldn't want."

"You know I'm right." Lucky responded, his voice catching, "she'd hate this. She wants you to be a kid, Cam. She'd want you off fighting in your matches, or playing hockey. She loved teaching you to skate, and she was so proud when you made the team." He tried to grab for Cameron's hand, but the boy stepped back, brushing his dark curls from his eyes. "She did everything she could to protect you-"

"I know." Cam interrupted, "I know what she did, what she gave up for me. And now…I'm giving up everything I can to get her back."

"Cameron, she's not coming back."

"Because you say so?" He asked tightly, "because you're the authority on everything Elizabeth Webber? Sorry, pal, I don't think so."

"Ya know, I have a plane to catch." Todd said awkwardly, "So I'm just going to…" he trailed off, motioned to the door, then nodded. "Yeah. I'm gonna go. Have fun. Cam? Fix this paper thing. I'm going to go do what we talked about doing."

Before Cameron could say a word, Todd walked out the door and shut it. He pulled out his phone and called for his private jet.

It was time to visit Colorado.


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you again for the reviews! I'm so glad people are enjoying this story!

I am aware that Liz's maternal grandfather's name was supposed to be Martin, but since I'm not a fan, I decided to make it Jake.

This chapter is pretty heavily Elizabeth-centric, since she wasn't in the last two. I've also kept it mostly GHers, sans Blair. I've changed Robin's story, because I wanted her to follow in her parent's footsteps as an agent.

Jason's in this chapter- ask and ye shall receive! LOL! I make no promises that this is a Liason story though.

Reading Guide:

In large portions

(Parentheses): Thoughts

_Italics: _Flashbacks

**Bold: **Writing

**Chapter Three**

**In which Cam manipulates Blair, Lucky helps Carly, Jason finds out Robin is alive and Elizabeth's secret is learned. **

"_Mom, I'm gay."_

_If he had been expecting a look of shock on his mother's face, he was to be disappointed. She stood before Cam in a pair of black yoga pants and the white form-fitting tank that she wore for her morning jog. Her hair was pulled up into a tight ponytail, that almost slanted her eyes, and she held her water bottle loosely in her hand. For a second he thought maybe she hadn't even heard what he said. Just as he opened his mouth to tell her again, she let out a small laugh. "Is _that_ the big secret you've been keeping?" _

_He raised a brow, "…yes?" _

"_That's why you've been lying to me about where you've been going at night? I know you haven't been with M&M." M&M is what she called Morgan and Molly, Cam's two best friends. _

"_You knew that?" Cam's face paled. What else did she know? She couldn't know who he was off to see…_

_She nodded and set her water bottle down on the table beside the door, then pulled him into a tight, warm hug, leaving out a sigh of relief in his ear. "Of course I did, Cammy. I'm hyper-aware of everything that you do. I was panicking because I thought we were going through another one of your hating me phases. I didn't think I could handle another one of those."_

"_Mom," he hugged her back as tightly that she made a pained sound, so he eased up. "I never hated you. I was just being stupid. I feel stupid now, actually. I…I know you're going through a lot because of Grams dying and your Uncle Jake being sick…"_

"_Cameron, you lost her too." She gave her a weak smile, "and never be afraid to tell me anything, Cam. Ever. I don't care what is happening, I don't care if the whole world is ending. You can tell me anything."_

_He swallowed, feeling tears coming to his eyes. Losing his grams had been so hard, especially so soon after little Jake and watching his mother try and be strong, in spite of her grief had been too much sometimes. Especially since it had been his Grams' wise words that reminded him that it wasn't really Elizabeth's fault that Lucky left, at the end of the day it had been his decision. Now it was just him and his mom taking care of little A. He took her back into a hug and buried his face into her shoulder. She stroked his hair gently and called him her Little Dreamer, like she had when he was little and he crawled into her bed when he had a nightmare, or when he fell off his bike and skinned his knee. Even now, when he was taller than she, and so much stronger physically, those two words were the most comforting in the English language. "It's not like I waited to tell you," he told her with a tearful laugh as he let her go again. "I only just figured it all out for sure in the last month. Before I was just…questioning it. I didn't hide it from you. I just…want you to know that." _

_She wiped away the tears that were coming down her face. "Really?" she smiled._

_He nodded, "Why are you crying?" _

"_Because I'm a mom and my teenage son is hugging me and letting me talk to him like I did when he was five." She laughed, and wiped one last tear from her face, "what? I'm a sentimental idiot." _

"_But you're my sentimental idiot." He told her with a goofy grin._

"_I'm also scared," she admitted, 'I know, I know. You're not, but this world can be a cruel place, Cam. And sometimes people do things they shouldn't…or things that don't make sense. I don't want stupid people like that to hurt you." _

"_Mom, I was born to kick ass." Cam assured her. "_You _drove me to all my practices and fights, remember?"_

_Another tear rolled down her cheek, "don't swear, it makes me feel like I did a crappy job as a mother." It was a joke to try and lighten the mood, but Cam didn't like it._

_He took her small shoulders in his hands and stared her right in the face. "Don't ever think that. You've _always_ been there for me. Even when I was pushing you away, blaming you for everything that ever went wrong, you didn't let me go. I know that I was hard on you, that I threw your mistakes in your face and that I probably wasn't really easy to be around for a long time; and I am truly sorry for that-"_

_She shifted underneath his hands, "Cam, you don't need to-"_

"_I do." He interrupted, "I'm so sorry for all of it. I made your life hell. I tried to get you fired from work, I tried to break up you and Ewen, and worse, I said things that I didn't mean, that I could never mean. I think…a part of me was testing you, Mom, maybe I was trying to see what it would take before you left me."_

_She took his hand in both of hers, and gave him the 'mom' look, where her aspect kind of softened, she tilted her head to the side and her eyes scanned his face with care and concern. "I would _never_ willingly leave you, Cameron Hardy Webber." She took his face in her hands and stared directly into his gaze, "I'll always be with you."_

"_I'll never leave you either, I promise."_

_When they let go of each other they were both a mess of tears, but started laughing in embarrassment through them. "Is your ab-tastic Aussie upstairs, Mama?"_

"_Not like you think," she gave him a playful glare, "he's in the guest room because his apartment is getting fumigated. Why?" _

"_Then I think I'll join you on the run." He cast a wink, then raised his hand for a hi-five. She hit his hand while walking past her then, just like they did when he was a kid, they smacked hands again below while their backs were towards each other before he headed up the steps. "Team Web, mom!" It's what they called the stupid little move that he had always loved so much, the move that always let him know that someone was on _his _side, that someone loved him, that he was part of something important._

"_Team Web, Cameron!" She called back._

Cameron adjusted his black jacket as he looked in the mirror. There was no trace of her in his features. He looked like Zander and he knew it. That had never bothered his mother though, she had said in her journal many times how happy she was that he had inherited Zander's darkly handsome features; before she died he had wondered if she resented his appearance like he did, and was happy to learn that she had not. Aiden was blessed with their mother's beautiful features, and had the secret of his paternity never been revealed, she could have easily passed the child off as Nikolas' since Lucky had no part in the boy's structure. Jake had been a different story, Jason was written all over him as clear as day. He had been the wrong child to decide to lie about permanently.

"Your lies always caught up with you, Mama." He told his reflection as if talking to her, "but I won't let the same thing happen to me. I just have to stall Todd and get the hell off this flippin' ferry. And I know just how to do it."

He sighed heavily. As his punishment for blackmailing Sam, Lucky and Sarah had taken away his freedom. He was forced to accompany them to the social event of the month, the stupid party for Jax. After this, Lucky promised that there would be no freedom for him…

What an idiot. Like he was going to let Lucky Spencer stop him.

Cameron looked around the bathroom on the Haunted Star, before shoving the door open and making a bee-line for Blair Manning.

XXX

"Don't you look like a vision. Where is that awkward cop who gave me such a hard time?" Jax asked as V walked out of the bathroom wearing a long, elegant black dress with a plunging neckline, spaghetti straps holding it up and a daring slit that revealed a perfectly toned leg. Her bob cut was slicked back, with one lone strand falling down, and framing one side of her face.

"Oh, she's in here." V promised, "and she's highly uncomfortable. Ugh, this crap is binding my body. I miss my bullet-proof vest."

Robin emerged next, looking happy in a pair of sweats and no make-up. The coolness of the hotel room fought against the heat outside, leaving the room chilly enough for Robin to be comfortable in warmer clothes. "Trust me, with a body like that? You're more protected without the vest. Well, if the shooters are male anyway." She gestured for V to turn around and the short doctor began to adjust the straps of her dress. "I'd gloat about how comfortable _I _am, but that seems mean."

"It would be." V replied darkly.

"I guess being dead does have its perks?" Robin gave a sweet as sugar smile, then V gave her a play smack. The two ladies made excellent friends, Jax decided. They were so funny together, and sweet, plus they always had everyone's best interests at heart. "Jax, you better snatch this girl up before some other guy beats you to it."

V snorted, "Jax doesn't have a chance."

Her unladylike snort gave Jax a chuckle, and he put his arm out for her to take, "well, it's time for you to pretend I'm the only man in the world, Venus." He told her and made certain to insert mischief in his voice, "because the whole world needs to think we're madly in love."

V laughed, "no problem, I'll just pretend you're someone else. Maybe something Denzel Washington-ish." After a playful wag of her eyebrows, she took his arm, then turned a little back to Robin. "You'll be okay by yourself?"

"Alone time?" Robin collapsed onto the bed and put her hands behind her head, "I'm going to video-chat with the hubby, then get some reading time in. It's been forever since I could actually take a moment and just be me."

"I'm green with envy." V sighed, then looked to Jax. "Come on, you rogue. Let's go finesse and impress."

Jax was reticent to leave, but he wasn't about to express that in any form the girls could recognize. The truth was, that he didn't want to see Carly. Not seeing Carly had really been the only thing keeping him from falling into old patterns. So he kept busy with work, with becoming the next James Bond, and really anything else he could do that would keep his mind off of the vivacious blonde who had ruined his entire life.

XXX

Blair smiled as Lucky approached her, happy that he had retired his usual casual attire for their party. She didn't know Cameron's dad well, sans that Cam didn't think of him as a father, but had seen him around enough to know that his favorite clothes were jeans and t-shirts. At the moment though, he was wearing a nice navy blue jacket, wrinkle-free slacks and a classic white shirt.

It wasn't perfect, but hey, it was more than she expected. "I'm so glad you decided to come, Lucky. Is Cam with you?"

"He's somewhere around here." Lucky answered with a smile, "I actually have your bouncers at the door making sure he stays on. He's kind of grounded."

She laughed, "oh my, he actually got caught doing something wrong?" She could hardly believe it. "Color me shocked, I thought the kid was made of Teflon. The bouncers didn't give you a hard time about it, did they?"

Lucky shook his head, "nah. They were fie with it."

"Good." She tried to give him a reassuring smile, "I know things are tough for ya now, Lucky. But I had some issues with my son in the past, and he did get better. I'm sure that what Cameron is going through is temporary. He's wonderful with Sam, you know, and I've seen him with his own brother too. He's a good egg, he just misses his mama."

Lucky nodded, swallowing hard. She noticed the look of pain that skated across his face. "Yeah."

"And…you miss her too?" Her knowledge on Lucky's past was sketchy at best. She remembered overhearing Lulu and Starr talking about it when Elizabeth first died. Something about an affair with his brother and a bunch of paternity lies.

Lucky's crystal blue eyes met hers and she almost took a step backwards from the agony that she saw there. Did everyone see that or was it just her? He cleared his throat, mustered a smile and said, "everyone does. Anyway, thanks again for having us at your party."

"Of course."

Lucky walked away and Blair found herself immersed in cheerful people excited about the return of Jax to Port Charles. She offered cocktails, talked business, flirted and was the life of the party.

How many times in her life had this been her dream? To achieve status, to have money, to own the room and be loved by many? She had spent all of her life dreaming of this one moment, where it all came together and she was on top of the world.

So why was her smile forced?

Why was she not truly happy?

She turned to another group of people interested in investing in her new company, funny how they were wooing her and not the other way around. The designs were hip, they told her, fresh, they said, invigorating and stylish.

"You're amazing at this," An Australian accented voice came from behind her. She recognized it from the phone and video-chats. A smile was plastered on her face as she turned around and greeted Jasper "Jax" Jacks with a kiss on the cheek, and then a hug to his fiancée V, whom she had also chatted with a few times. "Everyone seems to love you."

"Well," Blair gushed, "why shouldn't they?"

"Indeed," he raised a glass to her and then took a sip. "You know my better half, Venus."

"Don't call me that," she glared at her fiancée.

Jax was an Adonis. Tall, blonde, buff and charming; any girl's dream. He wore a white jacket, which accentuated his tanned skin and brightened his sapphire eyes. Beside him, like a black candle with her hair as a flame, V looked like a Goddess in her dress. The two didn't feel like a match, but then what did Blair really know about all of that? "It's V, right?"

She nodded and gave an impish smile. "You're absolutely freaking gorgeous in person." She gushed, "wow!"

"Oh, I _like_ you." Blair grinned and laughed, "maybe I'll steal her away from you." She joked, "who made that dress, by the way? You look stunning."

"It's retail, actually."

"Retail?" Blair balked, "you can make retail look good? She's definitely a keeper."

"This party is a keeper." Jax looked around, "what an event, and I was practically mowed down by investors coming in. You're doing a fine job with all of this Blair."

"Well, thank you." She raised a brow, "I know how to schmooze-"

"Mrs. Manning." Cameron's voice interjected and she turned to see him, "I'm so glad that I caught-"

"Cameron Webber?" Jax interrupted, stepping past Blair to take Cam's hand and shake it vigorously, "I've really wanted to see you- did you get my letter?"

Cameron nodded, looking tentatively at the Aussie.

"I'm so sorry that I couldn't come back for Elizabeth's funeral." He told the boy in a throaty voice, "your mother was a good woman, a strong woman, and I owe her a great deal."

For a moment, just a moment, Blair thought Cameron was going to be _nice_ to someone older than the age of twelve; but then he stiffened, as if realizing it himself. He shrugged off Jax's attempt and turned to Blair, "we need to talk."

"Uh, sure. " She turned to Jax and V, "Excuse me please."

Cameron ushered her outside, his arm through hers as he practically dragged her into the night air. "Calm _down_."

Cameron whirled around to her, "how can I when your ex-husband is about to rush off looking for information about the people who kept him locked away for eight years, Mrs. Manning? You remember what happened last time he went after the people who hurt him- he barely got away with killing Victor. You _have _to do something!"

XXX

"You realize that you're completely insane, right?" Jack asked with a sigh as Carly dragged him onto the boat and started darting through the crowd with a purpose. His words came out the second the she grabbed him, used him as a cover and then ducked back behind a wall.

"He has a woman with him- crap, what was her name?"

Jack leaned to the side to look past a particularly ugly bald man to see the object which Carly was desiring and avoiding at the same time. He didn't see anything particularly special about Jasper Jacks (whatever, to each their own). "How should I know? I've never seen her before."

"V! That's right." Carly nodded, "she was Jax's friend or whatever, had a big crush on him when he was still in love with _Brenda_." Carly rolled her eyes, "what are they doing?"

"Um, he's touching her arm a lot, oh, he just kissed her cheek."

"Like touching her arm how?" Carly hissed.

Jack sighed and took in the sight before him, "like they're close, I guess. Get out here and look yourself. What am I, your servant?"

"Could you just be a human and help me out here?" Carly asked in a pleading tone, "I don't want him to see me yet. I didn't know he was _with_ someone, and I have to get my bearings. Jeez."

He gave her a sidelong glance (well, I guess I could be nice. Maybe it will increase my karma or something). "Sure." He looked back at Jax and V, then tilted his head to the side, they looked and acted like lovers, but did he really want to tell Carly that? He'd want to know if he was her, he glanced back at Carly, whose back was against the wall and whose eyes were closed (best be honest). "They're together if you ask me, like together together, if you know what I'm saying."

She let out a breath that sounded like a hiss, "damn."

"Carly."

"Can you get me out of here?" Carly asked softly, sounding wounded.

Actually, she sounded a lot like his mother did whenever she was hurt, and for some reason, that really got to him. "Yeah, sure. Come on."

He gave a quick look over the room, then grabbed her hand and darted through the crowd and to the door, pushing her out it, then as he slipped out himself, looked back to see if anyone noticed him. There did not seem to be anyone altered enough to suggest seeing Carly.

He turned to see that Carly was face to face with someone though. Lucky Spencer.

She looked at him helplessly, "care to be a real cousin and help me out of here? I almost just made a complete ass of myself."

Lucky raised a brow, then nodded and took her hand. Jack followed them out, off the boat and onto the docks as the three of them slipped away into night.

XXX

Jason Morgan opened the hotel room and walked inside, closing the door behind him after checking the hallway one last time to make sure it was empty.

When he turned around, the once empty hotel room suddenly had Robin in the middle of it, as if appearing out of nowhere.

Her hair was swept up off of her shoulders into a ponytail, and she was wearing sweat clothes- but to him, she was beautiful. Because she was _alive._

In a moment she was in his arms and he was hugging her so tightly that he felt even now, when she felt solid and athletic instead of just tiny and breakable, she would shatter in his arms. "I can't believe it's really you, Robin." He whispered into her hair, "it's just….it's so impossible."

After Robin died there was a dull ache in his chest, then his marriage imploded, he found out he was Franco's brother, that Sam's child wasn't his, the child died and then finally, the final blow, Elizabeth was murdered.

It had all been just too much.

Even Sam finding her baby and allowing it back into his life hadn't been enough to pull him out of the self-destructive streak he found himself ensconced in. He was now heading Sonny's business, since his longtime friend had retired to his island, and rarely travelled with guards. The only time he used them was when he visited little JJ, Sam's son to Franco, and even then he felt like it was just a reminder of everything he had lost.

Emily. Robin. Elizabeth. Jake. Sam….

But now Robin was alive.

He let go of her and cupped her small face in his hands, "I can't believe it's you."

"Believe it." She told him with a smile. "I wanted to tell you sooner, Jason, I did, but I couldn't. Not because I didn't trust you but because I didn't have a trusted channel to get to you with. You understand, right?"

He did and indicated such by a slight nod of his head as he dropped his hands to his sides, feeling the material of his jeans at his fingertips. "How are you alive, Robin? More importantly, why do you need everyone to think you're dead?"

"I was working on something." She told him urgently, "something big. It's a drug that can, well, it can help with hypnosis, more importantly, the kind of hypnosis that might be able to combat the effects of," she closed her eyes and made a face, "of brainwashing. Look, I know how this sounds. But Jason, you remember what happened to Lucky? Well, it can combat that."

Jason recalled the time with Lucky when he was under Helena's control, but at the time he was merely concerned with the safety of Elizabeth and Emily.

"Well, people started to realize what I was working, what I was doing. Bad people." She told him, crossing the room and pouring herself a water, "but good people too. The WSB. My family."

"Your family?"

"My Aunt Alexandra." Robin clarified, "she's a doctor too, and keeping close tabs on me without my knowledge. She was worried that I might be getting some attention from the wrong sort of people, and the closer I got to a solution, the more she and her friends at the WSB worried. So they acted." She took a drink of water, then turned to Jason as she worried her lower lip, "I don't agree with their actions, I want you to know that. To cause the grief that they did for my husband, my daughter and my mother- it was unconscionable. I mean, they know the truth now; they're safe too. It's why Patrick and Emma left town. But still- I'm making inroads with the organization, trying to make sure they no longer use _those _kinds of methods."

"You would be doing that," he said with a small, knowing smile.

"Well, I have to." Robin replied simply, "My Aunt is helping, with the work on the drug and with the methods the WSB uses. She and I really get along. Mom was right about that."

"Anna knows too, I take it?"

Robin nodded, "so does my dad."

"Good." He gave a slight nod, "thank you, for coming here and telling me."

She walked over and squeezed his hand, "I had a feeling that you needed me, Jason." She told him, "I know things are rough for you, I know that you've lost a whole lot, and I'm so sorry."

His throat was tight, and he was barely holding back tears. Everything was just too much anymore. He was barely holding on, and the only thing really keeping him going was the little baby he called a son. His JJ. Even if he were still on the outs with his ex-wife Sam, there was that kid that kept them bound. "It's not your fault."

She reached over and pulled him into a hug.

XXX

"My father has gone to take care of a few errands in China." Ethan told Victor as they walked down the corridor towards Elizabeth and Emily's room, "he's sending me back to Port Charles because there are rumblings that WSB agents are in town. If that's true, we need some people there. You can handle things here?"

"Emily is too insane to even try and escape, if Elizabeth escapes we kill her sons, so she won't make an attempt. Hope is a baby, and 11 -1- 82 is a mere 5 years old."

320. Ethan frowned at that. How could he be so cold about a child, and one so beautiful? But he said nothing on the matter, for his father had a similar sentiment. "And our gentleman guest down the hall? He's slightly more feisty."

"We'll be fine." Victor commented through his teeth, "perhaps by the time you return to the compound we will have made progress with finding the microchip, hm? Your father gave very detailed instructions for Elizabeth's next session- if this doesn't work, I'll be surprised."

"Well that _is _good news, isn't it?" Ethan remarked. He stopped at the window that allowed him to look inside at Elizabeth and Emily. "Good luck to you then, hm? I'm off to be the doting Spencer brother."

XXX

Elizabeth had every corner of the corner of the cell memorized. Every piece of chipped gray paint on the walls, were imbedded into her memory. There were no windows to look out of. There was a toilet and a sink behind no walls. The shower, thankfully, had a curtain, but it was almost transparent as well. There were a few towels, a few clean nightgowns for she and Emily to wear. They hung from three hooks in the wall- and nothing was large enough to make into a noose or use as a weapon.

There were bunk beds, Emily took the bottom and Elizabeth took the top. Although some nights she lay with Emily on the bottom as to keep her entire body from shaking.

Being with Emily was equal parts comfort and terror. They had driven her mad, she was half Rebecca, half Emily, but not as though they were split personalities (it's more like they put the personalities in a blender, and they're all mixed up with chunks of each floating around. They're fragmented and broken up into one addled, broken mind).

At the moment, Emily, with her tangled hair and her bruised face, was staring at Elizabeth in her new way. Her lips were parted slightly, eyes glassy and empty. She'd chuckle sometimes, call her a brother fucker- that was Rebecca- then laugh again and apologize, start crying- which was Emily- and then she would zone out.

Elizabeth comforted her, which in turn comforted herself because it gave her something to do and something to think about.

But the madness, it terrified her. She had attacked Liz more than once. The bruises on her Em's face were self-inflicted; and, more than that, Elizabeth found herself wondering if she was next in line for such madness. What they had done to her already…the experiments with fear, with pain…like they were trying to get a certain response, already played with her mind. They heightened her fear, the tension inside her. She did not have dreamless sleep, unless they took her and drugged her. All other times, she had nightmares that left her terrified to the point of hysteria. They all involved these people bringing Cameron to where she was…and doing to him what they were doing to her.

She closed the distance between herself and her friend, pulling Emily close and stroking her hair, working out some of the tangles gently with her finger tips. "Remember when you used to tell me that I shouldn't keep secrets, Em?" Elizabeth leaned against the wall, feeling the cool concrete against the back of her head. "I should have listened. I should have known that this whopper was going to come bite me. But I didn't. I thought, how could it do anything for anyone? And it was none of anyone's business anyway." She sighed heavily and then let her heavy lids close out the terrible world for a moment.

When she did, she saw Cameron's smiling face. He was holding Aiden the day he was born, talking about how they were going to be the best family ever.

It was for him that she didn't try an escape. The threats against him, against her sweet  
Cameron, were what kept her docile and malleable. Every instinct was screaming at her to try and escape- but she couldn't.

"I was told to keep it a secret, so I did. I didn't even question why. Why didn't I question that?"

A clanging, indicating that the door was opening, interrupted her one-sided conversation with the girl who she called a best friend.

Her heart sank into her stomach as Victor walked inside. He said his name was Victor, anyway, she didn't really know if what they said was true. Hell, they were keeping her locked away with a madwoman _they _created. She wasn't sure of anything anymore, not even how long she had been locked up, or everything they had been doing to her.

He stood before her, his sandy brown hair slicked back, the blue suit he donned pressed and perfect. If they were on the street she wouldn't think he was a dangerous man. She probably wouldn't really think on him at all. She didn't find him overly attractive, and expensive duds failed to impress her.

But knowing him as she did, left her cold and fearful. She didn't greet him, only held Emily tighter. "Elizabeth, you look well."

She lifted her chin and stared at him with blazing defiance.

"I've come to ask you a few questions, they should be easy to answer." His voice was so soft and commanding, like he didn't need to yell and he was simply so powerful that people obeyed him. "It should be less than difficult, they are questions you've answered before."

"Then why ask them again?" Elizabeth shot back.

"Suspicion, of course. Not everyone believes you're fully forthcoming."

"I have told you everything."

"Well, then let's recap." He put his hands in his pockets and stared down at her with steel blue eyes and the hint of a sadistic smile. "What training do you have?"

"None."

"You expect me to believe that you spent every weekend of your entire childhood with Irene, and she didn't train you at all?" He spoke as if he knew she was being trained somehow, which was impossible. The man was as mad as her cellmate.

"She and my uncle paid for gymnastic lessons and ice-skating lessons. Which I had every Saturday. Then we would go out to eat." Elizabeth told him honestly, "they didn't have children, and my uncle took a liking to me, so I spent a lot of time with them. There was no _training_."

"Then you moved to Port Charles?"

She sighed heavily, annoyed that she had to go over this again, wondering what it all meant. "Yes. I learned that they were both lying to me all along. So I left Boulder."

"Lying liars." Emily whispered beside her, "everyone lies. They all do."

Elizabeth rubbed her friends shoulder, "shhh, it's okay, Em." She whispered into her ear. "It's alright."

"What were they lying to you about, Elizabeth?"

She sucked in a breath, then finally got to her feet, letting Emily slip gently from her arms. "You know what they were lying about, Victor."

"Tell me again." He prodded smoothly.

She scowled at him, "about who I was, who I am. Just like my dad and his wife lied to me."

"Who were you? Who are you?"

Elizabeth looked him over, from his shoes to his face, then crossed her arms over her chest. "You know who I am."

"Tell me anyway."

"I'm the bastard daughter of Jeff Webber and Irene Clayton. The child Jeff found on his 'doorstep,' and convinced his wife to adopt." Elizabeth cleared her throat, "but you know all of this. You know that Jeff wanted to keep his daughter and made a deal with Irene. You know that when my mother found out about his affair that she made my father put me in boarding school. You know that I was expelled and left in Boulder, and you know that I found out and ran away to Port Charles."

Victor had no reaction, even as her words had come out with more heat and anger. "Right."

"So why are you asking me these things?" She demanded.

"Just a refresher before we put you out, maybe when you wake up your story will change." He grabbed her arm, impulsively she ripped it from his grasp and took steps back. "You know better, Elizabeth. You wouldn't want anything to happen to your poor sweet children."

(No. Run. Elizabeth, go) She turned back to look at Emily, who was laid against the wall, eyes open but unseeing. She went away again it seemed. She turned back to Victor. "And what will be happening to me when you put me out?"

"Well, there will be some shock therapy, then some hypnosis. It won't be painful, I promise. You'll be drugged."

"Oh. Goodie." She put her hands out to him, "I'm all yours.

**There will be a ton of T&B and Carly/Jax in the next chapter, I promise! Plus, a Jax and Morgan reunion! Yay! Keep letting me know what you think, please! **


	4. Chapter 4

**It's been a while! Sorry, my muse was being mean! Thanks for all your replies, otherwise this chapter NEVER would have come out !**

_**Some notes**_

_-I know that I promised a lot of Carly and Jax, but as it turns out, I hate Carly right now- so unless I get a huge outcry from Carly fans asking me to increase her time in the story, she's going to be a supporting character- but it still ends with CarJax._

_-This has a lot of Cam/Morgan in it, but that was unavoidable. I needed to position them in a certain way to get to where I need Cam in the story_

_-I tweaked Ewen's character for the sake of giving Jax a story, and because Robin wasn't kidnapped Faison, but by the WSB. I think it is far more interesting than what they did to Ewen on GH. Plus, gotta love more Jax._

_This is a long one. Sorry! _

Reading Guide:

In large portions

(Parentheses): Thoughts

_Italics:_Flashbacks

**Bold:**Writing

_**Bold Italics: **_Song Lyrics

Previously:

-Liz is being held hostage by Cesar Faison, his son (!) Ethan, and Victor Lord! She's presumed dead by all of Port Charles- only her delinquent son Cameron thinks she's alive and is on a mission to find her.

- Liz is the daughter of Irene Manning, Todd's mother!

-Carly wants to know if Cameron was in love with Morgan; she thought that was why Morgan split for military school after Cam came out as gay.

-Blair is letting everyone think she's engaged to Tomas when she isn't to try and avoid falling in love with Todd!

-Jax, Robin and V are all WSB agents. Robin wants to talk to Jason Morgan. Jax and V are pretending to be together.

-Lucky is having problems with his son Cameron, who hates him and blackmailed Sam into investigating his mother's death. He is currently raising his kids with the help of Sarah, Liz's sister.

**Chapter Four**

In which Blair tries to save Todd, Lucky and Carly bond, Cameron makes a break for it, Robin confides in Jason, and Morgan confronts Cameron.

"Hey, I just got a text- you going to be okay with Lucky?" Jack asked Carly, with a concerned hand on her arm.

She nodded in response, gave him a smile before meeting her blue eyes to Lucky's. Her cousin, who she had never quite been close with, looked as harried as she felt and she had no doubt in her mind that it was due to the upcoming anniversary of his ex's death.

She should be grateful, because at least Jax was alive, for her there was the hope of reconciliation, even with this new development, this new girl in his life, there was still the chance that she could get him back. She knew that if she looked up at the sky, Jax could be looking at that same sky- and sometimes that was enough.

Lucky didn't even have that anymore.

They approached the limo that she arrived in, and Carly ducked in. The driver was not inside; she had allowed him to go read somewhere as he was wont to do during long events. As soon as the door was shut behind her, a breath of relief exited her mouth, and she dug her fingernails into the car seat. "I can't believe he has a girlfriend. I can't believe he brought her here. What the hell was he thinking? Didn't he realize what this would mean for me? For us?"

Lucky opened the door and sat down beside her, raising an eyebrow at her as he slammed the door shut. "No offense, Carly, but weren't you dating someone for a while?"

She glared at him, then crossed her arms across her chest. "But he wasn't here for me to rub his face in it."

"Carly-"

"Fine. Whatever." She rolled her eyes and refused to look at him. Instead she faced the window and stared out at the ship that was Jax's return party. It looked small against the horizon, despite the fact that she knew it wasn't. A part of her wanted to watch that ship sail away, and yet another part of her wanted for him to walk off of it and into her arms. Neither idea made the sight before her less stunning, or Jax's choices in parties to encourage his business ventures any less brilliant. "He can have her, I don't want him."

"Yes, you do." Lucky replied, and she turned to look at him. His eyes were closed, his mouth strained. "You don't want to love him, because in that direction is pain and heartbreak. But people not wanting it and not feeling it are two different things."

"Spoken like one who knows."

"Love." Lucky looked at her and Carly could tell, almost intuitively, that he was talking about Elizabeth. His blue eyes, dark and cloudy, might as well have had her visage in them, and the frown lines surrounding his mouth may as well have spelled her name. "Love doesn't just go away- it can change, it can shift and it can mutate; but it doesn't leave. So depending on how it shifts is whether or not you can move on. Sometimes you try and move on, you do everything within your power to just let it go- but it isn't enough, because it's no longer within your power. It has a life of its own. This irrational, completely insane life of its own that doesn't make sense, that doesn't care how it hurts you- like a hurricane it just sweeps everything along with it and leaves whatever it wants in its wake."

Carly felt a chill go down her spine, "Lucky-"

But he was continuing and she realized that he didn't even see her anymore. "it doesn't care if the other person is unconscionable, uncontrollable or even unreachable; it doesn't give a damn. It just pulls and pulls until you have to let go of whatever it was you were holding onto in order to not get sucked in by its force. Finally you let go of whatever, or whoever, because you can't hold on anymore. Whatever you had your grip on, whoever you had your grip on; can't keep you forever because the hurricane always wins." She noticed the instant he saw her again, because he blinked rapidly and shook his head before meeting her eyes once more. "It always wins."

XXX

Blair found herself almost out of breath when she reached Todd's Penthouse. She didn't even bother to knock, simply opened the door to see his suitcase on the table, closed and upright, then another bag, that she guessed was going with him on the flight.

He was at his desk, looking handsome in the black leather jacket that she hadn't seen him in for years. When he looked up, his hair poking every which way and his eyes looking cold and dangerous, Blair knew which Todd that she was dealing with and how to deal with him. That was what decades of their particular type of dance did to two people. "You can't do this."

"What? Go on vacation?" He asked blandly.

She shook her head, closing the door behind her and staring him down with the eyes of Blair _Cramer_ she-wolf and possible lunatic. "You can't go after the people who kept you hostage, _Todd_." She told him, taking a step forward, "don't you remember the Victor debacle? Because I am never going to forget it."

He stared at her for a moment, eyes unfocused like he wasn't seeing her, then they refocused. "You spoke to Cameron. That little shit is so fired."

"I'm glad I did speak to Cameron!" She exclaimed, "at least he has the sense to try and keep you from going down a path of self-destruction, Todd!"

Todd stood, "wait- what did he tell you?"

"The truth, Todd. However foreign it is to you! That you found out more information on the men involved with taking you, so you're going to go find them." Blair responded hotly as she balled her hands into fists, her arms stiff at her sides. "Don't you ever learn, Todd? You're going to get yourself killed, or put in jail!"

"Or maybe your boyfriend will lock me up for another eight years, oops- I meant fiancée." Was his dark and angry response, "why the hell are you even here, Blair? Shouldn't you be at your party or something? And you're one to expound on the truth, I might add. It's not been your best ally through the years, if memory serves."

She knew he was lashing out because he was hurt. That's what Todd did. It's who he was. Her being Blair, and him being Todd, she kept her distance. He was right about her truth comment, but she wasn't going to admit that. Instead she squared her shoulders, and stared at him with narrowed eyes. "So Starr finally forgives you, you have everything you want, and you're willing to throw it all away? Is that what is happening here?"

"Is that what it looks like?" Todd motioned to his things, "because it looks to me like I'm taking a well-earned vacation."

"And if I thought that was what you were doing, I'd wish you well and say halleluiah, because maybe a vacation would chill you the hell out. But since I know that you're really going to rain fire and brimstone on your enemies- I've come by to do the right thing and stop you."

He let out a short, derisive laugh, "my question is when did you turn in to Dudley Do-Right's wife, Blair? What happened to you while I was locked away for eight years? Did they put you on the rack and bleed the interesting right out of you?"

She rolled her eyes, let out an annoyed sighed and tilted her head to the side, "I grew up Todd, maybe you could do the same?"

"Nah." He zipped up his lap top. "Sounds lame."

"_Todd_."

"What do you even care, Blair?" He asked, throwing his hands in the air, "Care-Blaire- get it? I bet you'd have an expensive shoe on your tummy."

"Ha. Ha." She replied sarcastically.

"Don't you have a really boring wedding to plan? Why is what I'm planning on your to-do list of criticism?"

She opened her mouth, shut it, then after a thought or two on what to say, she told him; "you're the father of my children, Todd. Of course I care if you go to prison for being an idiot." She walked around the desk that had his suitcase on it and stared him directly in the eye. "Which is exactly what is going to happen if you get on that plane."

"So you think it's a bad idea?" He asked right back, but before she could answer, he cut her off. "Let's talk about bad ideas, Blair." He offered, "because I have an entire list of your bad ideas written right here." He reached into his inside breast pocket and pulled a piece of paper. "It's every terrible idea you ever made, including, but not limited to, marrying Max Buchanan, getting engaged to the spook who kept _me _locked up for 8 years, and that's just _romantically-_"

"Shut up!" She cut her hand through the air, "we're not talking about me right now. Don't you get that I'm trying to help you, Todd?"

"You're not helping, you're hindering. Now get out so I Can spend less time fighting and more time figuring out what to put in my carry-on suitcase."

He breezed past her in a huff, opening the door and motioning for her to exit. She grabbed his arm so that he would look at her, but the movement caught them both by surprise and suddenly he was nose to nose with her, just a breath separating their faces.

As always, when he was this close to her, she felt her pulse quicken and she had trouble controlling her breath. Their eyes were locked together and she could feel his warm breath on her cheeks. "What are you doing, Blair?"

And his tone had that softness to it, that vulnerability that kind of made him sound like a little boy who needed help. Her eyes moved to his mouth, then she closed them and tried to control her already wild emotions.

(What am I doing?)

When she opened them, she noticed that he hadn't moved. Like her, he was frozen there.

Just the tiniest move forward and her lips would be touching his…

XXX

"Morgan!" Jax opened his arms as soon as he laid eyes on his son and Morgan was immediately in them. It had been a year since had been able to see his son, and when he had Morgan had been in his Swiss military school. Since returning to Port Charles, they could only talk by skype, that was until the WSB ensured that he could return to his home without charges being brought against him, or Sonny Corinthos coming after him. He was now free to spend a great deal of time with his son and his daughter. He touched a lock of his green hair and gave the kid a devilish grin, he kind of liked that Morgan wanted to be different and stick out; "how are you?"

Morgan returned the smile, "great now that you're back. You? How was your trip?"

"It was, quite possibly, the happiest trip of my life." He took a drink of the champagne and placed his free hand on Morgan's shoulder, "you look good, Morgan- tell me everything that is going on with you." He put an arm around his son and headed them off to the bar.

"Well," Morgan began, but paused as Jax ordered himself a scotch and Morgan a peach Iced-tea, "I've been taking college courses in lieu of high school ones, thanks to the new accelerated program that you funded." Morgan sat down next to his dad and then sipped his drink, "Molly is taking them too- although she's more interested in the arts than computers and technology."

"Well, we both know money is in technology." Jax said, "we're just fortunate that is where your interests are."

Morgan nodded, "Oh, Molly is dating this guy named TJ now. He's alright, I guess."

"It's too bad you don't wake up and see how great she is," Jax scolded.

Morgan shifted uncomfortably under Jax's gaze, "yeah…well…" He looked around but didn't see who he was looking for, and then shrugged. "Sometimes things just aren't meant to be, you know?"

"Something bothering you, Morgan?"

"No, I mean…" Morgan shrugged, "it's just that I was looking for Cam."

Jax gave a quick glance around the bar area, then behind them at the open floor where a few people were dancing, but mostly people were standing around and talking. "You said he wasn't talking to you?"

Morgan shook his head, "he won't even look at me, actually. Not since I went to military school. I mean I tried to reach out to him when his mom passed but…" Morgan shrugged, then turned back to the bar and took a drink of his tea, "I guess by then it was too late," he finished softly, "he can't forgive me for running away. I don't blame him, I guess."

"But you miss him." Jax translated.

"Yeah." Morgan smiled a little, "he was my best friend. A lot of my best memories include him."

"I know what you mean," Jax nodded and put his hand on the small of Morgan's back. "Maybe I can talk to him, hm?"

"No." Morgan shook his head, "he's not been…very open to advice now that Liz is gone."

Jax was quiet for a moment, "has he been cruel to you? Has he hurt you?"

There was the fierce protectiveness of a father in Jax's voice and Morgan smiled at it. Even when Jax was gone and Sonny wasn't, Morgan had felt like the blonde Aussie was more of a father to him. "No. He mostly just pretends I never existed. Honestly, I'd rather he screamed at me, or railed at me or even beat me up. Because then I would know I at least mattered to him, even a little. But he didn't. He shut me out completely. Nevermind, lets talk about something happier- like you and this V girl. Why haven't you told me about her in our chats?"

"I wasn't sure where it was going." Jax admitted sheepishly, "and I wasn't sure how you would take it. I know how you wanted me to get back with your mother."

And in his heart of hearts, that was really want Morgan wanted. He truly believed that only Jax could make her happy, show her what her full potential was. He wanted them to be a family, a real one, and he knew that if his mother had just been a little more reasonable, everything would have been fine between them. In his heart of hearts, he blamed Jason and Sonny, though Molly always refuted it when he did. But Molly thought Jason was the second coming of Jesus…hell, most of the town did. "Well, I guess that's out, huh?"

"Sorry, kiddo."

"It's cool. I get it." Morgan smiled, "I'm going to go find Molly, wanna have breakfast tomorrow?"

"Sounds great. Just us though, alright?"

Morgan nodded in ascent before giving him a brief hug and then going on the prowl.

XXX

"I wish that this could be more of a social call." Robin told him as she handed Jason a beer and sat down on the arm of the couch, so that her feet were on the cushion. He was in the chair across the room, looking every bit the man she remembered him to be. "But I could kind of use your help, which is how I convinced my superiors to let me tell you I was alive." He nodded for her to continue, and Robin bit down on her lower lip, thinking about how she would broach the subject. "Look, I know that you have this whole code where you don't tell the authorities anything, and, as a WSB agent, I'm now an authority. But Jason, you want me to help find and punish these criminals, okay?"

His face betrayed nothing of what he was feeling, though she searched desperately for a trace of it.

"I think that drugs are moving through Port Charles, drugs specifically needed to optimize relaxation and susceptibility to thought changes." She explained, twisting the cap off of her own beer and then taking a swig. After her large gulp, she looked at the label and frowned, "if these drugs keep getting to the wrong people, then they're bound to perfect what they are doing."

"What exactly are they doing? I mean, I get it, brainwashing." Jason raised an inquisitive eyebrow, "but to what end…exactly?"

"Our best guess?" Robin asked, knowing that her expression was one of annoyance that they didn't know the answer for sure, "is if they can successfully use implantation of memories- which we have a few cases of it working so far- they can take people out of governments, implant whatever they want, then put them back in. Viola, they have spies, they have informants, they have minions doing their bidding and people are none the wiser.

"And…this has actually happened?"

"Oh yes," Robin took another drink of her beer. "To a guy here, actually. Todd Manning. His mother took his memories and put them in his brother, Victor, then replaced Todd with Victor so that she could have control of his money." Robin twisted her lower corner of her mouth downward, "and look for a microchip that he had."

"That's…insane."

"There's more." She got down from the arm of the couch and sat down next to him, keeping her voice low and her eyes on his blue ones. "This is where you come in, okay? But it's kind of a long story, so I need you to show me some patience."

He nodded.

Robin took in a deep breath and then got to her feet, feeling a little anxious. She walked to one side of the couch, then back, trying to find a way to say what she had to say, without sounding like she escaped from an institution. Plus, she needed his attention on the situation at hand, not the surprise inside the tale.

So she'd start with the company. "There's this…company, Martin Pharmaceuticals, which the WSB has believed, for quite some time, to be a front for an organization led by Irene Manning; the mother of Todd Manning and Victor Lord Junior." Robin explained, picking up her speed of pacing, "we have evidence of human experimentation there, Jason. We're talking brainwashing, genetic mutations- you name it, they're doing it. It's like something straight off the sci-fi channel."

"That's where the drugs are going?" He asked, keeping up with her quick paced speech with no problem.

She nodded, stopped pacing and told him; "exactly. But these people, they work for whoever pays the right amount. Think of them like mercenary scientists- which is the norm nowadays because we don't fight hand to hand anymore. It's all technology based, so these guys are…really, really dangerous."

"And now you're doing the same thing they're doing…but for the WSB?"

"Yes." She put her hands on her hips, "but I know that what I'm doing is meant to benefit mankind. We're not trying to make money from war, Jason. We're trying to stop war. We're trying to preserve life. _They're_ selling to the highest bidder."

He raised his eyebrows her, "are you sure you can trust the people you work for?"

"I can." Robin promised, "the head of the WSB is a good and smart man, his dedication to humanity is paramount. He's risked his life more than once for it. He doesn't want power, he wants peace." She sighed, "the enemy wants money, but we don't pay sociopaths, because there is always someone out there who will pay them more. We stop them. I stop them….and when you know what they've done, you'll want to stop them too."

"What have they done?"

Robin leaned in, lowering her voice, "they target people with connections, maybe to the WSB or wealthy, powerful corporations, or in the police- and they turn them into agents. The only problem is their success rate with these brainwashing techniques are substantially greater if there is a history mental illness within the family, most notably DID." She walked quickly across the room, disappeared behind the door and then reappeared with a stack of manila folders. She dropped them on Jason's lap, and he leafed through them.

"Georgie Jones? Cooper Barrett? Leticia Juarez? Diego Alcazar? Em?" Jason looked questioningly, "Robin, what does the text message killer have to do with any of this?"

"Every one of them as a viable candidate for the techniques Irene Manning used on the Todds." Robin answered very seriously, "Well, not Georgie. But she hadn't been the intended target, Maxie was- and Maxie's profile indicated a lean towards mental illness, with genetic indicators for DID. Her father is a high-ranking WSB agent. Your sister's biological father _had _DID, and Emily had the same genetic viability as her father did. She ahd access to all the Quartermaine's bank accounts and a few skeletons in their closet. Cooper Barrett is _actually_ Brenda Barrett's brother, and you and I know _her_ family's stability. He had aspirations for the police department, and he knew things about Jerry Jacks, we think. Leticia had no history with mental illness, and only the genetic indicators of DID. She worked for Carly, whow as married to a mobster and had a mobster for a best friend. That leaves us Diego, who had been a Joe for quite some time. It turns out that he was working for Jerry Jacks- information we obtained from another undercover agent."

"Is there some kind of connection between Irene and Jerry?"

"We're not entirely certain, intel indicates it's very likely." Robin gathered up the folders and stared at Jason for a long time, "Jason, we have substantial evidence that Rebecca Shaw never existed, the last sighting of Rebecca was with _Zander Smith, _who we know is working for Cesar Faison. Jason. Rebecca is Emily- and we're pretty sure that Faison not only has her, but is experimenting on her."

XXX

"_Pleasepleasepleaseplease!"_

"_Mom, you're getting annoying." _

_She dropped to her knees, put her hands together as if in a prayer and said in a woefully tragic voice, "but if I don't get one, I'll just _die_. Please, I'll do anything!"_

_Cameron tugged his mother up by her elbows as she giggled and laughed at her mocking of him. "I wasn't _that_ bad." _

"_You were." She laughed, "and now it's time to pay the piper, Cameron. I agreed to let you have your deathtrap of a skateboard, despite the rise in my blood pressure every time I see you on it, and I'm letting you work for Todd Manning! So now you must suffer, Cameron Webber." She turned from him, walked a few steps, then turned back with her hands raised and moving (my mother is giving me jazz hands, I am totally screwed). "You, good sir, are going to be my date to the Nurse's Ball." _

"_Mo-om-"_

_She poked him in his side, then dashed across the room as he went after her. "You're going to dress up," she barely dodged his hand snaking out to grab her, "smile," she hopped over the couch and almost went face-first into the coffee table but at the last moment caught the top with a foot and used it to hop over it to the other side of the room, "and you're going to tell everyone in the whole world-"_

"_What a big ol' pain my mom is?" He asked. _

_She grinned, putting her hands on her hips, "would you rather I went with Mr. Hesmond?" _

"_My math teacher?" Cameron made a face._

_She brought her shoulder forward and looked at him over it, "well, he _did_ ask me to go-"_

"_Okay!" Cameron put both of his hands up, "I'll go, I'll go. Ugh. You're such a sneaky little-"_

"_Don't you even finish that sentence, young man." She glared, "or I will ground you until you're thirty." _

_He flashed a dazzling smile, "I was going to say a sneaky little blackmailer. What did you think I was going to say?" _

The water was temperate and beautiful, and it always calmed him. Cameron was in need of calming. Tonight had to go off without a hitch if he were going to join Todd on his little excursion. This could be his only chance to find his mother, and if that were the case, then this _had_ to happen.

If not for himself, for Aiden, who in the very least needed one parent that would actually stick around, but if he were being honest, it was mostly for himself.

He let his mind wander to another memory…

_Cameron launched the vase through the air, shattering it against the wall with his painting of the Haunted Star, sending that crashing to the ground as well. Anger burned inside of him like fire as he used his forearm to smash through the paints and glasses on his table by his canvas until they were a mess on the ground. _

_He heard her on the steps before the door opened. His mother, shirt wet from dishwater and baby food, hair pulled up into a messy ponytail with strands poking out was in his room. She quickly surveyed the mess he was making before her eyes flew up this face, "are you okay?"_

_Those would be her first words._

_His anger deflated and he threw his arms up in the air, "no, no I'm not." She shuffled the pieces of the vase out of her way with a foot and then sat down on his bed, patting the place next to her so that he would sit as well. "I'm sorry I started trashing things." He told her glumly as he sat down next to her as she wanted._

_She looked around at the mess as she took his hand in hers, "what caused hurricane Cam?"_

_He rolled his eyes, "I'm failing art."_

"_Art?" She asked, "but you're an amazing artist, Cameron. Look at-" She stopped as her eyes caught the painting that had fallen to the floor. He knew why she stopped. He had done that painting for Lucky, but her ex-husband had never come back for it- or for her. "Look at that painting there." She squeezed his hand, "your attention to detail, your symbolic uses of color- it's all phenomenal. So your art teacher must be out of his mind." _

_Cameron bit down on his lip, let go of his mother's hand and then pulled the beginning of his carnage off the floor. He had used his painter's knife to rip through the work that had gotten him the 'F.' _

_It was a man, his back to world, made of splashes of dark, foreboding colors that were smudged and shaded into his form. The foreground was the ocean that he stared at, but it was not blue. It took was a smudged mess of colors shaded into what the audience was to see. _

_The knife went diagonally through the canvas, slashing the man's back. _

"_Cam, this is gorgeous." She said softly, picking it up in her hands and staring at it. "What on earth was your teacher thinking?" _

"_It was supposed to be realistic." Cameron replied glumly, "but look, the shading, the markings- all that is realistic. I just wanted to make the emotion behind it realistic too." _

_She bit down on her lower lip, then looked at him. "May I have it?" _

"_But I ruined it." _

_She shook her head, "no. It's not ruined- it symbolizes more than one thing now, that's all." She set it down on the bed and then turned to face him. She raised a hand, using her thumb to wipe of something from his cheek. A wry smile was on her lips as she scanned his face. Finally she let out a breath, "I'm going to call the school- you clean this up. But be careful not to cut yourself, okay?" _

"_Why would you call the school?" _

"_So I can chew out your art teacher." She told him with a crafty little grin._

"_You're not mad at me?" _

"_For doing your best?" She asked, "why in the world would I be, Cam?" Then she looked around the damage he caused and sighed, "but you do need to clean this up, and realize that we can't afford to replace everything you break, okay?" _

_He knew he looked doubtful. _

"_I am always on your side. I will always have your back. That is something that you will never have to question and it is something that will never change." _

"I've been looking for you."

The familiar voice of his former best friend, Morgan, sent a knife through the pleasant memory of his mother. Unlike Elizabeth, Morgan didn't have his back- and there had been a point where he thought Morgan would be the only one who did. It made him bitter to think that he questioned his own mother's loyalty because of her mistakes, while never questioning Morgan.

Outside of Lucky, no one had hurt him more.

"I couldn't reason why." Cam responded icily without moving his eyes off the water.

There was a small intake of breath, then a long pause. "How many times do I have to say I'm sorry?"

"None."

"Because you'll never forgive me?"

Cameron didn't answer, didn't move to look at him, because seeing his face was too difficult. His face tightened his chest and made it hard to breathe. "Shouldn't you be off with your shadow somewhere? Making plans for study dates and honor society meetings?"

"There was a time when we were the Three Musketeers, remember that?"

Cameron didn't answer. He remembered. He remembered everything. "Three's a crowd."

"Big bad Cam doesn't need anybody, is that how it is?" Morgan asked tightly, "is this what Liz would have wanted for you? To be all alone?"

Cameron didn't grace him with an answer, this exchange would have been easier for him if there was enmity involved, but instead Morgan was practically soaking him with _pity. _ "My mother would want to be here." Is how he finally responded, "but she isn't, so I guess what she would want doesn't matter anymore, does it, Morgan?" He turned to look Morgan straight in the eye and was surprised that they were clouded with something indiscernible. "Go."

"I made a mistake. Everyone makes them, Cam. Why are you always so stubborn and bullheaded? Why can't you just forgive me? We were best friends."

"You were a shitty best friend." Cameron snapped before collecting himself and calming down. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go find a waiter to have promiscuous gay sex with- kay?" The words were meant to sound a care-free about homosexuality as he could possibly get, he didn't want Morgan to know that it hurt him that Morgan didn't accept it. So instead he would rub the fact that he was gay in the kid's face. He started to walk away, but then turned back when Morgan grabbed his shoulder to stop him. "What?"

"Don't." Morgan warned.

"Why?"

"I've heard the rumors about you, Cam- about the guys you hook up with, the risky life-choices you make. And I get it, you're rebelling? Look at me- I've rebelled against everything Carly and Sonny would ever wanted for me. But dude, I'm rebelling in a way that isn't going to get me an STI or buried in a shallow ditch on the side of some road. You can't just trust strangers, Cam."

"I don't." Cam retorted easily, "I don't trust anybody."

"Hey, Cam!" Jack came jogging toward them, he greeted Morgan casually before turning back to Cameron. "You should be good to go."

"Good to go do what?" Morgan wanted to know.

Cameron wasn't about to explain to Morgan how Jack was helping him. "Every guy who will have me, Morgan." He responded tightly, before walking towards Jack and motioning for him to walk out of Morgan's ear shot. As they entered the staircase, Cameron looked to Jack expectantly for the information he wanted.

"You're lucky I even answered my phone when you called me, Cameron. It's not like we're friends."

"Like you would ever help a friend, Jack." Cam mused, "you're helping me because I have info you want." Cameron reached into his jacket and pulled out a travel drive, when Jack extended his hand for it, Cameron snatched it back. "Did you do what I asked, first?"

"I got the uniform of the caterers, and your look-a-like is waiting for your clothes right now. Where did you even find that guy?"

"Craig's list. He's a model. You didn't give him my name, right?" Cameron wanted to know.

Jack shook his head, "What do I look like, an idiot?"

(Yes.) "No." Cam smirked, "so here's the drill- Lucky is off to go help a damsel in distress, okay? I'm going to follow the other caterers off the boat while this guy masquerades as me so the guards don't get suspicious. You just make sure that no one, like Sarah Webber, for instance, sees that guy's face."

"How can you manage all this and still get straight C's in school?" Jack wanted to know with a hint of shock in his voice.

(School doesn't matter and math sucks.) "Let's just get me into that outfit and I'll give you what you want- all the information one could possibly obtain on Molly Lansing in order to woo her. Good luck with that." He rolled his eyes, (Molly doesn't like bullies or creeps, so you have your work cut out for you.)

"Fine. Lets go."

XXX

The air was electric between them- but this is how it was with Blair, always. Thing were never simple, or easy, or normal. It was life or death, hate or love, and there was never ice because it was always fire.

Todd didn't dare close his eyes, he kept them fixed on hers. He knew them so we, had every fleck memorized, ever emotion categorized in his head. He knew the dark intensity of passion, the shimmer and spark of want, the glowing of hatred and anger, the shadows of self-doubt. He probably knew Blair better than he knew himself, which is why right then he knew that she was on the precipice of finally realizing he was the one- (and in 3 seconds you're was going to start-)

"What the hell, Todd?!" She backed off and stared at him with fury- but that fury was really covering up fear. "I just came over to help you- and you have to put the moves on me? No way, I'm not tripping into that disaster again!"

(-yelling.) He sighed, folding his arms over his chest and glowered. (less than three seconds this time, I must be losing my Blarian sixth sense). "And why exactly do you want to help me, Blair?"

"For Starr!" She exclaimed defensively, "she's worried about you."

"She sent you here?"

"I mean, she would have if she knew what was going on," Blair hedged, suddenly realizing her misstep and trying to fix it. "And for Jack, he's just finally bonding with you." She was nodding then, finding her perfect answer.

"So no one sent you here," he read between her words triumphantly, "you came here all on your own to save me from myself." He spread his arms out, "and how exactly do you plan on saving me Blair? Because I'm still going on that plane, and you can't really stop me."

She raised her chin, "then I am going with you!"

He snorted, "in the middle of your company launch with your over-sized Ken doll?"

"I've done all the work so far, now it's his turn." She returned vehemently, "and you're just mad because your little _friend _Carly still has a thing for the Aussie hunk. Poor Todd, left out in the cold again."

(And then came the visceral hatred), but he was up for the challenge. "As opposed to your ever-absent fiancée? Who keeps you warm at night Blair?" He hit back with ferocity, "I mean, who knows what he is doing right now. So much for your need for honesty, Blair, Mr. Super spy is a master at lying."

"He's honest about what matters, which is more than I can say for you." She slammed back, "I don't know who you lie to more? Me, or yourself."

"And what am I lying to myself about, exactly?"

"This thing, you going after the people who took you. You're chasing ghosts, hoping to find answers about who you are. Todd, you know where those answers are, and they aren't on some airplane, or in your mother's sins. The answers about you are in you."

"You're looking way too deep." Todd shook his head, "all I want is revenge."

"And where does revenge always leave you?"

"Satisfied?"

Blair took a step closer to him, "you end up alone and miserable, Todd, then you seek more vengeance and you destroy more people- it's this never ending cycle of lies an damage that you think can be fixed by throwing money at it. But we're not things, we're people, and you can't just pay someone to make it all better."

"This coming from the woman who thought money could change everything."

"I did," she nodded, "but then I got money, power, prestige, respect- I have it all now."

"And you're happy?"

When she didn't answer, he stepped closer to her. "Are you happy, Blair?"

XXX

Lucky answered his phone, suppressing a sigh when he saw the name on the Caller ID. Sam. He liked Sam, but he usually only heard from her when Cameron was causing troubles, and he was loathe to know what his son had done _this time_.

"Hey, Sam, what's up?"

"Hi. I wish I was calling with better news." There was a small pause and a little huff of air, "but I am currently handcuffed to a pipe in my apartment."

"I'm sorry- what?"

"Seriously." Sam said irritably, "these two guys came in dressed as _police_ _officers_. They told me I was under arrest, they hand cuffed me to the chair, and then, I shit you not, started stripping to a Florence and the Machine song. When I started yelling- they were flustered and just sprinted out. I don't think they realized that I didn't _pay_ them to do it. You're lucky I called you and not the police, okay?"

Lucky winced at the story and then frowned, "I know, thank you. I'll be right there."

He glanced over at Carly who was looking at him with confusion, "what's going on?"

He shook his head, "nothing. I have to go- I'll see you later." He didn't wait for his cousin to say anything, and instead hurried out of her car and into his. He started the engine, pausing only a second to pinch the bridge of his nose and collect his thoughts.

Seriously?

Cameron seriously hired strippers for Sam to freak her out? What the hell was wrong with him?

**She told me not to step on the cracks  
I told her not to fuss and relax  
Pretty little face stopped me in my tracks  
But now she sleeps with one eye open  
That's the price she'll pay****  
**  
Lucky looked at the radio in confusion. He had been listening to Miles Davis, not Florence and the Machine…

_**I took a knife and cut out her eye  
I took it home and watched it wither and die  
Well, she's lucky that I didn't slip her a smile  
That's why she sleeps with one eye open  
That's the price she'll pay  
**_

"Cameron Webber…I am going to kill you."

_**I said, hey, girl with one eye  
Get your filthy fingers out of my pie  
I said, hey, girl with one eye  
I'll cut your little heart out cause you made me cry  
**_

XXX

"I didn't figure you would be alone." Jax approached the man that people knew as Dr. Ewen Keenan, who was sitting at the back of the party with a glass of champagne, watching the guests of the party with his trademark inquisitive expression.

Of course, Ewen Keenan was his _nom de guerre_

His real name was Agent Jerry Jacks Jr. although most people called him JJ. He was the result of a torrid affair Jerry had when he was younger, and the mother hadn't bothered to tell Jerry about him for years. JJ said it had been out of resentment, but Jax didn't know how much resentment JJ's mother could have for Jerry, considering she named her son after him. JJ had been a double agent, spying on Jerry Jacks for the WSB. It was his work that had gotten them Robin. Jerry had been working for someone who had wanted Robin, and Jerry had wanted his son to kidnap her as a show of loyalty. Instead he faked her death before the kidnapping was to take place. Now JJ was remaining in Port Charles, waiting to hear from Jerry, but so far there was no word. He had been recruited by the WSB for his neurolinguistic abilities, but kept because he was also an excellent field operative.

"I thought you would at least have a date."

"Sarah and I weren't really working out." His nephew said wryly, "it's not entirely shocking. I'm afraid she's not very creative."

"Did you even tell anyone the two of you were dating?"

"I didn't think Cameron was ready to hear it." JJ explained with a shrug, "so we never went public."

Jax considered the words, and filed them away for later thought as well. He didn't really know Sarah outside of her excellent work as a doctor. She was renowned pediatric heart surgeon and a philanthropist who gave many of her hours working without fees for the less fortunate people. She was following in her parent's footsteps- and if Jax recalled, so did her older brother Steven. Neither of those Webber siblings had children of their own though. It was Elizabeth who had strayed from that path, having loved art more than nursing, then her children more than art. "No other candidates then?"

"My life doesn't really have a lot of room for relationships, you know?" JJ said quietly, avoiding eye contact as he watched the guests. He laughed a little, then glanced at Jax, "I'm married to my work and my art."

"Ah, yes."

Jax and JJ fell into an awkward silence until V approached. She graced JJ with a cheerful smile, "so what is Dr. Steamy doing here by his lonesome when there is quite the hottie sitting right over there, giving him the eye?" V casually motioned behind her, covering it by smoothing over her hair. "Talk to her. She's tall, blonde and just your type."

V had been JJ's contact handler the WSB, and, Jax, suspected, the only one who knew all of his missions. "Wait, didn't you date Elizabeth Webber?" Jax asked, confused, "she was hardly blonde, or tall."

V looked impatiently at him, "we thought she was a Joe."

Joe was slang for a deep cover agent. Jax couldn't help it, he snorted. "Elizabeth? Really? That's _some _deep cover. I mean- I can't think of anything more impossible."

V shrugged, "we had a few good reasons, besides, he was in town. Why not chase every avenue."

Their voices were low, and the music was loud enough that no sound device could have picked up their conversation, but Jax could still tell V was uncomfortable talking about anything in such a public place. He changed the subject, "so when did things end with Sarah?"

"Last week." He answered stiffly, "it was what it was. We've been talking too long, it's suspicious."

V nodded, "I'll try to spend some time with Alexis and see if the Cassadines are stirring."

"A solid plan," JJ replied dryly, "we all know what a barrel of laughs _that _family is."

"Meanwhile," V gave him a severe look, "talk to the blonde before I start thinking celibacy is your life-shoice, kay?"

From the eyes of the party, it would have looked like nothing more than an introduction of strangers, but one with the promise of further communication later. They had kept it friendly and light to onlookers, and tried to make it so no one would think anything of the encounter.

V hooked her arm through Jax's and the two started toward Alexis Davis, who was talking cheerfully to Diane. All that was forgotten as the lawyer noted them coming towards her and moved to embrace her two friends.

First she hugged Jax, then V and then they were all in a hurry to tell each other about the news in their lives. Diane, feeling out of place most likely, politely excused herself, and the three continued prattling on.

"Spencer is doing wonderful in school with his sights set on Oxford- he's actually excited about taking over the Cassadine empire and so eager to learn all of its ins and outs." Alexis told them as the conversation had veered toward Jax and Alexis' most common denominator, their children.

It was hard for Jax to hear about Spencer sometimes. After all, he was supposed to be the one helping Spencer throughout life, and detaching himself from that idea, even after so many years passed, was still difficult at its best. The pain was somewhat quieted with the arrival of Joss, who he had such high hopes for, but mostly it was calmed by his son; the bright and talented Morgan. He couldn't be prouder of anyone- and was certain that one day Joss and Morgan would head his own empire. "I really wish that Spencer would come home though, I think time with Molly and Morgan is what he needs. He has friends, but no real close ones."

"Morgan would definitely be friends with him," Jax agreed with his best friend, "he's always so open and friendly- and Molly, well, you must be over the moon about how she is turning out."

"And back again." Alexis replied, "Molly has been as smooth sailing as Kristina is stormy waters." She grinned, "but they are both sharp as tacks, my girls, and I wouldn't want anyone else. Besides, Kristina has the fire she'll need in the Cassadine world."

"Definitely," V was agreeing, "hopefully Helena is retired."

"Wouldn't that be lovely? She has been quiet for some time now, so there is always hope."

Jax felt a rush of relief, but kept his face neutral. Helena being still and quiet was just what they all needed, there were enough problems. "Have you seen Molly or Morgan around? They've been missing for a little bit." Alexis said conversationally.

Jax took a look around the room, "no. Morgan was looking for Molly earlier. Hey, there's Cameron. Maybe he's seen them."

Cameron's back was towards them as he talked to a cute little blonde girl across the room. Jax started over towards him and put a hand on his shoulder, "hey, Cam-"

But the boy who turned around wasn't Cameron at all, he just looked like him from the back, and was wearing clothes that Jax had seen Cameron in earlier.

That was odd.

XXX

Getting on the plane was easy.

Cameron knew that airport security would be tough, but he had a fake passport already, and it was a private jet which helped. More to the point, Todd's personal pilot, James Hart was a compulsive gambler who cheated on his wife- and so blackmail was involved with getting him in the storage unit of Todd's jet. After threatening to tell James' wife about his bad habits, the pilot relented and allowed him to sneak into the storage compartment which already had Todd's posessions. The convincing had taken a good twenty minutes though, (I hope my telling Blair stalled Todd long enough to not catch me.)

(All this time I had been preparing to go on a search for my mother, I didn't realize it would happen so soon, so fast.)

He had easily obtained the passport using Luke Spencer's name and credibility, it had cost a lot, but he had been obtaining money from all different sources. Todd, Blair, Jack…

He had all of his money with him in cash. He also had brought a back pack full of clothing, a few fake IDs, a travel drive with scans of all the information on his mom including her journals and psych evaluations, his lap top and even a fake ID for Elizabeth. (So keep Calm, Webber. You've got this. You've been planning to find her for the last year- under any circumstance.)

The storage compartment was cramped, already filled with a few suitcases for Todd- but if he laid down flat, he was comfortable. His plan was to sleep through the flight while listening to music on his headphones- he'd wake for the landing and then he'd make his way to the pharmaceutical company _before_ Todd.

Everything was going perfectly as planned.

Until the door to the storage compartment opened and he was looking into the dark eyes of Morgan Jacks. "You've got to be fucking kidding me."

"What the hell are you doing, Cam?"

"How did you get past security?"

Morgan flashed his passport, "I always have it with me, duh. Luke Spencer taught me that."

"Ugh. That old drunk is screwing my life over and he isn't even _trying_." Cam rolled his eyes, "what did you do, follow me?"

"Of course I did." Morgan replied easily, "Jax's plane is over there, security knows me. It was really a cake walk. You should really pay more attention to your surroundings Cam, I could have been anyone. "

Cameron cursed himself silently, (some perfect plan, you idiot). "Well go away and keep your mouth shut."

"Why are you on Todd Manning's private jet?"

"Go away."

"I can't believe that you're stowing away like this- is Todd going somewhere? Why do you want to go with him? Are you in love with Todd Manning?"

"Ew. No." Cameron made a face, turned his head to look at Morgan from his laying position. "Ugh., why did you follow me?" (Please just go away.)

Morgan pursed his lips, "because that's what friends do, remember? They don't walk away."

"Which would make sense _if we were still friends! _But we're not! Morgan, _please_ just go away. Go back to Molly and your dad, alright? Let me go."

"First tell me why you're leaving."

"No."

"Tell me why or I'm calling Lucky Spencer right now and ratting you out." He reached into the breast of his jacket and fished out his cell phone then held it up. "Your choice, Cam."

(What the hell?) Cam closed his eyes, and said, very quickly, "I'm going to look for my mother. She has a connection to Todd's crazy mother."

Morgan crawled into the compartment and pulled the door shut behind him, letting the darkness envelope them both.

"What are you doing?"

"Going with you."

"Excuse me?" Cameron couldn't believe it. Out of the both of them, Morgan had always been the safer of the two. He found his excitement in the world of computers, and even though he wore punk clothes and dyed his hair green, he was not one for _real _trouble. So lying next to him in someone else's private jet was not making much sense to Cameron. "You don't even know where I'm going. You're stowing away on Todd Manning's airplane, Morgan. Do you have any idea how many laws you're breaking? And that's not even the worst of it- you're potentially making _Todd_ _Manning, _former gang rapist and current psycho angry."

"Yup. Exactly like you're doing."

"You could go to jail. He could kill you."

"Yup."

"Jax is going to be livid- and Carly, Christ, she's going to freak out."

"Probably." Morgan tempered.

Cam inhaled sharply, "you can't do this."

"I am doing this." Morgan said simply, "You were my best friend, Cam. We pretended to be lost boys together when we were little, we played board games and hide and seek. Through every single mob shoot out, kidnapping, marriage, divorce, remarriage, divorce- you were there." Cameron felt Morgan's hand cover his hand and squeezed. "You were my best friend, and when you needed me to have your back, I let you down. I can never change that- but I can try and make it up to you by helping you find your mom."

Cameron was scared to speak- scared that his voice would crack, or that the swelling in his chest would be evident in his tone.

He had missed his friend so much, he had wanted to confide in him a thousand times- but couldn't forgive him, couldn't look back…and now Morgan was here, risking life and freedom to help him find his mother.

Cam didn't have to speak anyway, Morgan had more to say.

"And if you tell me one more time to get off this plane? Then I am going to tell Lucky exactly what you're doing."

Cameron finally exhaled and trusted himself to speak casually, "well, this is going to be a long flight. I sure hope you went to the bathroom."

XXX

"Of course I'm happy" Blair replied, faltering slightly, and hopefully not enough for Todd to catch. "Why wouldn't I be happy?"

"You almost just kissed me." Todd pointed out, "is that what someone who is _happily _engaged does?"

"_You_ almost kissed _me_!" She argued, "I'd never kiss you! Not for all the money or all the jewels in the world, Todd! Because you are definitely the road to _unhappiness_!" It was practically cried out, but she couldn't help it. (This is a disaster! This is an absolute disaster! I can't believe we almost kissed.) "I'm done with you!"

"Oh?" He scoffed, "is that why you're going with me on this vacation then?"

"No." She folded her arms and raised her chin, "I'm not going with you anymore."

He gave her that trademark Todd smirk and she felt her knees get ever so slightly weak. (Why does such a train wreck have to look so damn good?) "You scared to be alone with me too long, Blair?"

She bulked, "of course not."

"So why the sudden decision to not go? What about saving me for Starr and for Jack? You _must_ be afraid to be alone with me." He practically purred it out and that was infuriating, "what other explanation could there be?"

She scowled, "I'm afraid that if I spend enough time alone with you…I'll strangle you!" She finally snapped, frustrated with herself for getting into this horrific situation. She turned around and folded her arms across her chest, "so go. Just go ahead and get yourself killed all by yourself so I don't get a murder rap."

"Well, minus the time you tried to kill Max, and the time-"

"He survived." She cut him off venomously and whirled around to look him square in the eye. "You would bring that up!"

"I'm just pointing out that you shouldn't be shining a halo just yet, Blair." He tilted his head to the side, "now, are you coming…or am I right? You're just _that_ into me that you don't think you could help yourself if we were in close quarters?"

There was sigh. (What am I doing? This is crazy!) "Oh, I'm going. I'm going to show you that not even a little _bit _of me wants you back."

*Song Credit Florence and the Machine "Girl With One Eye"

Let me know what you think!


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